Arman Tsarukyan isn’t expecting to get his shot at Ilia Topuria just yet.
Currently No. 2 at 155 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, Tsarukyan has been in limbo since losing out on his shot to fight for the lightweight title this past January at UFC 311. Tsarukyan was to challenge Islam Makhachev in that show’s main event, but a back injury forced Tsarukyan out of the contest and he has not competed since. In the meantime, Makhachev vacated his belt to set up a fight with welterweight champion
Jack Della Maddalena, and Topuria claimed the vacant title with a knockout of Charles Oliveira.
Topuria’s first lightweight championship is still to be announced, and Tsarukyan believes he and two-time title challenger Justin Gaethje will be passed over for Paddy Pimblett.
“No, Gaethje won’t fight Topuria,” Tsarukyan told Sport24 (Russian translation via Championship Rounds). “It’s my opinion. The UFC can do whatever they want. The UFC could even put Topuria against a debutant. But I think it’s more likely to be Pimblett than Gaethje.
At a glance, Pimblett’s résumé isn’t as strong as Tsarukyan’s or Gaethje’s, but the popular Englishman has won all seven of his UFC fights and has a longstanding feud with Topuria. Pimblett confronted Topuria in the cage after his win over Oliveira at UFC 317, but UFC CEO Dana White pushed back against the suggestion that that grudge match is locked in.
“I think he’ll defend his title,” Tsarukyan said of Pimblett. “If Islam wins the [welterweight] title, [Topuria] will move up to 170 and want to become a triple champ.”
Topuria and Makhachev appeared to be on a collision course when Topuria was featherweight champion, with “El Matador” making frequent overtures to moving to lightweight to challenge for Makhachev’s belt. However, by the time Topuria officially moved up, Makhachev had also decided to chase a second title.
Since January, Tsarukyan has stayed busy with grappling matches, including a submission win over Patricky Pitbull, and on Friday, he meets former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson in a no-gi grappling match in Moscow.
Though he still has plans to fight for 155-pound gold, he expects Topuria prefers other challenges for now.
“No, he won’t want to fight me because he can make more money fighting Islam and he has the chance to become the first-ever triple champion in history and earn big money,” Tsarukyan said. “And even if he loses to Islam, he can say he moved up to 170 and drop back down. He’ll have the excuse that he moved up two weight classes.”
