"But the guy f'ed up multiple times, and this is something you can't do. He was gonna fight for the belt, he pulled out the night before because he couldn't make weight or... I don't think any of us are actually privy to what happened that night... They put a lot of money, time, and resources into promoting a fight, and if you f-k it up like that, they're going to be pissed off."
"Tsarukyan (23-3) initially disappointed the UFC by pulling out of a title fight against Islam Makhachev last year. When Makhachev vacated the title and moved up, Tsarukyan was denied the title shot. Tsarukyan weighed in as the backup when Topuria defeated Charles Oliveira to win the vacant title. While Tsarukyan kept calling for a title shot, Topuria expressed interest in fighting Paddy Pimblett."
"Meanwhile, Gaethje threatened retirement if denied a title shot. Tsarukyan hoped to secure a title shot with his stoppage win over Dan Hooker at UFC Qatar this past November. However, headbutting Hooker at the weigh ins probably didn't help Tsarukyan's cause. Tsarukyan had also thrown a punch at a fan while walking for his UFC 300 clash against Oliveira in 2024."
Arman Tsarukyan, once the top lightweight contender, has been sidelined from the title picture after multiple high-profile incidents. Justin Gaethje will face Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324 while champion Ilia Topuria takes a short hiatus. Gaethje assigns responsibility to Tsarukyan for pulling out of a title fight the night before and for unsportsmanlike conduct at weigh-ins, including headbutting Dan Hooker. Tsarukyan previously withdrew from a title shot versus Islam Makhachev, served as backup for the Topuria–Oliveira bout, and was involved in an altercation with a fan at UFC 300.
Read at Sherdog
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]