Arman Tsarukyan is the odd man out in the UFC lightweight title picture with Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett battling for an interim title while reigning champion Ilia Topuria deals with some issues in his personal life that requires him to take time off.
With Gaethje and Pimblett meeting at UFC 324 and the winner then expected to welcome Topuria back to the octagon, Tsarukyan is stuck in limbo as the No. 1 ranked contender with no real indication on when he might get his own shot at gold. But UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier argues that Tsarukyan really is the toughest challenge awaiting Topuria and whether that fight goes down now or later, it has to happen at some point to determine the best 155-pounder on the planet.
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“This guy might just be the best lightweight in the world,” Cormier told Red Corner MMA about Tsarukyan. “Since Islam’s gone, he’s really good. He’s big, strong, physical. The champion Ilia Topuria is tremendous. I think Ilia and Arman are the two best guys in the world. I think they need to fight at some point.
“Paddy Pimblett is awesome. Justin Gaethje’s awesome. Arman and Ilia seem to have something and not only something in terms of skill but between the two we can build a great fight around. I think Arman’s fantastic. He’s good. He looked great against Dan Hooker, too.”
Tsarukyan is currently riding a five-fight win streak including victories over Dan Hooker, Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush. By any metric available, he should get the next title shot but Tsarukyan remains in Dana White’s dog house after he was scheduled to face Islam Makhachev for the lightweight belt this past January but an injury suffered during fight week knocked him off the card.
In the aftermath of that disastrous situation that forced the UFC to pivot to an entirely new main event on just a few days’ notice, White said that Tsarukyan blew his opportunity and he’d have to work his way back to title contention again.
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Tsarukyan finally returned to action in November when he dispatched Hooker inside two rounds but once again the UFC CEO said he still had more work to do before he’d be considered for another title fight.
That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to Cormier, but he also knows that Tsarukyan hasn’t been noticeably vocal taking shots at the UFC for that decision so he believes there’s more to this story than anybody truly knows.
“I don’t know why Arman’s not fighting for a title. I really don’t,” Cormier said. “I’ve heard the reason because of what happened in Los Angeles. I thought that by weighing in as the backup fighter when Ilia fought Charles [Oliveira] and by going and fighting Dan Hooker, it would be OK. I don’t know.
“I don’t know what the conversations that they’re having behind closed doors are. Because they’re telling him something that’s making him OK with it, right? Because if he wasn’t OK with it, he would be more loud about him not getting his opportunity. I kind of defer to they know more than we do and so we’ve got to kind of accept it for what it is because it seems like Arman is doing that, too.”
