Dana White says there’s no bad blood with Arman Tsarukyan despite the UFC interim title fight snub.
Tsarukyan (23-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) was left out of the title picture after lightwweight champion Ilia Topuria decided to take some personal time off. Instead, the promotion matched up Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett for the interim title in the UFC 324 headliner on Jan. 24.
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With Tsarukyan ranked No. 1 in the division, many questioned the matchmaking. White went on to explain that Tsarukyan still needs to work his way back after pulling out of his UFC 311 title fight against Islam Makhachev last January.
“He’s here. You know what I didn’t do? Didn’t cut him, didn’t go sideways with him,” White told The MacLife of Tsarukyan. “We don’t dislike him.”
Since withdrawing from his fight against Makhachev, Tsarukyan weighed in as a backup for the vacant title fight at UFC 317 and ran through Dan Hooker for a first-round submission at UFC Fight Night 265 last month. That didn’t appear to be enough, though, but White insinuates there’s more to the story that isn’t public.
“It is what it is,” White said. “It’s not like I’ve confronted Arman. Arman’s a man. He knows how this played out. He knows how this all went down behind the scenes. He knows. We all f*cking know I don’t ever talk about this sh*t publicly because you guys (the media) are like a f*cking bunch of old ladies, and anything you can get clicks on and keep bringing up and all this sh*t.
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“A lot of man sh*t happens in this f*cking business, and we keep it between us men. It is what it is. Arman knows.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dana White insinuates top UFC contender should be happy he wasn’t cut
