Arman Tsarukyan was not pleased to see the focus shift to Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett after the UFC 317 main event.
Saturday’s pay-per-view headliner crowned Islam Makhachev’s successor, with Topuria making history as the latest entrant into the club of two-division UFC champions.
After bidding his featherweight reign farewell earlier this year, Topuria starched Charles Oliveira in devastating fashion at UFC 317 to win the lightweight gold.
Two potential next opponents were in attendance at T-Mobile Arena, which meant that one was always going to be snubbed of the spotlight.
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Arman Tsarukyan says Ilia Topuria ‘knows’ he would get finished in UFC title fight
Though it initially appeared as though Topuria was set to put focus on Tsarukyan during his Octagon interview, Joe Rogan instead shifted the topic of conversation onto Pimblett.
That resulted in a face-off between Topuria and Pimblett that got physical after they exchanged words, forcing security to intervene.
Tsarukyan watched on from the fighters’ area cageside, and he quickly took to social media to express his displeasure.
“It was never supposed to be Charles. I can finish Ilia, simple as that. And he knows it too,” Tsarukyan wrote. “That’s why he’s avoiding the real #1 contender.”
Ilia Topuria warned Arman Tsarukyan of title snub after UFC 317
The way things unfolded at UFC 317 might not have been a total surprise for Tsarukyan.
Despite making weight as backup fighter for Saturday’s main event, the Russian-Armenian had his claim to the next title shot dismissed by both Topuria and UFC CEO Dana White during fight week.
Before White branded Tsarukyan’s presence in Las Vegas and successful visit to the scale on Friday as nothing more than a step in the right direction, ‘El Matador’ insisted that the top contender must earn the shot by recording another win.
Though that was also expected to be the case for Pimblett, the recent face-off might have set him up to leapfrog Justin Gaethje in the pecking order.