Ilia Topuria is being criticized for his stance on defending the UFC lightweight title against one particular contender.
Topuria is less than one month removed from reaching two-division glory on MMA’s biggest stage, a feat he achieved in the curtain closer of this year’s edition of International Fight Week.
After Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317, talk quickly turned to who could be the first to challenge the Spaniard’s reign at 155 pounds. But while many have pointed to the top contender and June 28 backup fighter, Arman Tsarukyan, ‘El Matador’ has ruled him out.
In fact, more than just preferring other options for his first defense, Topuria has said he will never fight Tsarukyan and would rather vacate the belt than give the Russian-Armenian a shot.
Ilia Topuria under fire from fans for ‘ducking’ Arman Tsarukyan
Tsarukyan was unsurprisingly quick to hit back at his division’s newly crowned king, and ‘Akhalkalakets’ was not alone with his criticism.
Many MMA fans also took aim at Topuria, accusing him of “ducking” a deserving opponent in an even worse way than Jon Jones’ refusal to fight Tom Aspinall prior to his controversial and seemingly short-lived retirement.
“Taking a page from Jones’ book”
“So he’s scared of anyone that’s a challenge?”
“Lil man is (duck emojis).”
“Jones 2.0.”
“In a shocking declaration, Ilia Topuria admits that Arman Tsarukyan has him shook.”
“He should be stripped.”
“Why couldn’t Jon ‘Duck’ Jones be as transparent as this guy?”
“He knows Arman will be his first true test.”
“Arman really got screwed.”
“Sounds like him and ‘Bones’ would be best buds.”
“This is the most blatant ducking I’ve ever seen.”
Arman Tsarukyan trolls Ilia Topuria with ‘duck’ chase video
After a serious response to Topuria’s controversial stance on X, Tsarukyan later went down a more comedic route on Instagram.
Tsarukyan one-upped Aspinall, who trolled Jones with a rubber duck by using a real-life duck in his skit. The UFC lightweight contender can be seen chasing a duck while calling out, “Ilia! Ilia! Stop running! Good boy. I will make it quick, no worries.”
Tsarukyan was initially set to have his maiden title shot at UFC 311 this past January, but he pulled out of his challenge against Islam Makhachev at the Los Angeles-held pay-per-view on late notice.
While the Russian-Armenian cited a back injury sustained during his weight cut, some have suggested a struggle to cut the weight was the likely reason behind the canceled fight.
UFC CEO Dana White subsequently said Tsarukyan would have to re-earn a title shot, and it would seem that successfully making the 155-pound limit at UFC 317 was not enough to do so.