Is Ilia Topuria Ducking Arman Tsarukyan?

In a shocking statement, the new lightweight champion, Ilia Topuria, denied giving a title shot to Arman Tsarukyan, leaving MMA fans divided. Some called him Jon Jones 2.0 for ducking the number one lightweight contender, while others supported him. In a recent interview with Nelk Boys, the Georgian-Spanish MMA fighter said this when asked whether he would fight Arman Tsarukyan next. Ilia Topuria didn’t mince his words and said this about the lightweight title contender.

“Listen, when you put so much effort in the game, and you have a guy in front who you don’t know that maybe he could pull out from the fight, that’s not something good for us. It’s not, ‘Ah, my back!’ Bro, I don’t f*cking care.”
Ilia said.

Here, he mentioned the UFC 311 pullout of Arman Tsarukyan 1 day before his title fight, as he reported a back injury during the weight cut, which left Dana White furious. He then replaced Renato Moicano to fight Islam Makhachev in the main event.

Ilia Topuria, just being cautious about the same, said that he wants him to fight one more time to get the title fight with him.

“They are going to give him a fight before the title shot because there is no way – I’m the world champion, I’m never going to give him a chance to fight for the title. I will be like, listen, if that’s the case, take my belt. I don’t do it.”
Ilia added

Arman Tsarukyan, after hearing the words, mocked the reigning champion for avoiding him and posted this on his social media handle.

“Imagine calling yourself a champion, but you’re already looking for a way out. You can vacate it, or I’ll take it. Either way, it’s mine.”
Arman Tsarukyan said

Arman Tsarukyan himself fumed at Dana White, who is not ready to give him a title shot. Most likely, he will fight someone other than Topuria. If he clears that challenge, he will likely dispel Dana White’s doubts and will likely fight for the title. Meanwhile, Ilia Topuria’s next opponent hasn’t been decided yet.

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