UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria continues to come under fire for his refusal to fight one top contender.
Topuria’s first defense of the lightweight crown remains unconfirmed, but the UFC is not short on options for his opening challenger.
Since Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 to become a two-division champion, three contenders have staked their claim for a shot at the Spaniard. While Paddy Pimblett looks to capitalize on his animosity with the 155-pound king, Justin Gaethje believes the UFC owes him a shot, and Arman Tsarukyan has been widely pointed to as the most deserving option.
‘El Matador’ has left the door open to two of those options and firmly shut down the third, a move that one fellow fighter thinks he may come to regret.
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Henry Cejudo warns Ilia Topuria about the consequences of avoiding Arman Tsarukyan
Topuria has made his lack of interest in a fight with the top contender clear. In fact, Topuria would rather vacate than fight Tsarukyan, a stance that has been widely criticized by fans and analysts alike since he publicly shared it.
The latest to advise the former featherweight champ and current lightweight king to alter that position is Henry Cejudo, who suggested Topuria will become a “public enemy” if he refuses to face the challenge of a worthy contender.
“Arman’s doing a really good job of just trolling him,” Cejudo said on his Pound 4 Pound podcast alongside Kamaru Usman.
“Everybody and their damn momma, they want to see that fight (Topuria vs. Tsarukyan). They don’t want to see a fight with Paddy ‘The Baddy’, man.
“(Topuria) saying he’d never give Arman a chance for the belt, he’d rather relinquish that. The UFC does not want to hear that, man,” Cejudo continued. “Once you start thinking you’re bigger than the UFC, you start to become public enemy number one.
“Even though you are a champion and you do have two belts, you still don’t hold leverage.”
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Arman Tsarukyan has told Ilia Topuria to go ahead and vacate the title
It is clear what the contender in question thinks of the situation.
Tsarukyan has continued to mock Topuria online, even recreating Tom Aspinall’s ‘duck’ trolling of Jon Jones with his own hilarious social media clip.
And in his most recent assessment of the situation during a media day session for training partner Khamzat Chimaev’s UFC 319 title shot, Tsarukyan urged Topuria to vacate the title and make good on his promise to do so if he will not fight the Russian-Armenian star.
“If he feels he’s going to lose that fight, it’s better to give up the belt and go up, or wait for what happens with me,” Tsarukyan said.
“He knows I’m a big problem for him, and I’m going to get his title. He knows that, and he wants to get an easy fight with Paddy, Gaethje, or somebody (else). Just make money and don’t defend. But with me? It’s going to be hard for him.”