Ilia Topuria heard Arman Tsarykyan’s callout after UFC Qatar.
Tsarukyan dominated and submitted Dan Hooker in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card in Doha to pick up his fifth straight victory.
The 29-year-old immediately turned his attention to Topuria and the lightweight title in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping, and continued that trend during the UFC Qatar post-fight press conference.
On Sunday, Topuria responded to Tsarukyan’s callout on Twitter.
“Arman, every time we see each other in person you freeze up like a scared duck with no idea what to do,” Topuria wrote. “You know I handle you however I want. I fight whoever the UFC chooses. And remember I slapped you and you just laughed, then you go around acting like a gangster. So keep going, you’re on the right path… just a few levels below me, kid.”
Not long after, Tsarukyan responded to Topuria’s comments.
“Bro, you touched my neck like we were taking a family photo and now you’re calling it a slap online?,” Tsarukyan wrote on Twitter. “The clip is clear – your insecurity’s even clearer. I don’t need to act tough for Twitter, my work is inside the cage. If you want to know what a real slap feels like, I’ll be happy to educate you. See you soon, El Pato.”
Tsarukyan told MMA Fighting prior to the event that he’d be willing to turn around quickly to face Topuria in January if the UFC asked him to. He reiterated that stance following the victory, and while he believes he would do very well against Topuria, Tsarukyan says it’s nothing personal between the two fighters.
“To be honest, we have nothing personal between us,” Tsarukyan said at the post-fight press conference. “This is all media, this is all hype. Obviously, we’re trying to hype up the fight but specifically personal, we don’t have anything. Because if we had anything, I’m sure we would take care of it by now.”
