Arman Tsarukyan has escalated his war of words with Ilia Topuria by laying out a scenario where the UFC lightweight champion could fall out of the promotion.
Tsarukyan suggested that if Topuria moves up to face Islam Makhachev, he would struggle against the welterweight champion before returning to lightweight and facing him next. He believes that back to back defeats in those matchups would significantly damage Topuria’s standing in the UFC.
In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, he said:
“If Ilia is going to move up, Islam is going to kick his ass. Then when he comes back down, I’ll kick his ass, and then the UFC will release him.”
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Check out Arman Tsarukyan‘s comments below:
The comments come as tensions between the two continue to build through 2026. Topuria has dismissed Tsarukyan as a low-value opponent, while the Armenian has repeatedly accused him of avoiding a high-risk fight. Topuria is currently preparing to face Justin Gaethje in a lightweight title unification bout at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 in Washington.
The event is scheduled to take place at the White House and remains one of the promotion’s most high-profile cards. Meanwhile, Tsarukyan has stayed active outside the UFC through grappling and wrestling appearances, including a submission win over Muhammad Mokaev and a dominant performance against Urijah Faber in Real American Freestyle.
Arman Tsarukyan fires back at Ilia Topuria as rivalry intensifies
Arman Tsarukyan has responded strongly to recent remarks from Ilia Topuria and fired back against criticism of both his fighting ability and public image.
The exchange follows Topuria’s comments questioning Tsarukyan’s level and dismissing him in blunt terms. Tsarukyan rejected that assessment and suggested the champion is avoiding a direct matchup while praising other contenders in the division.
In the aforementioned interview with Ariel Helwani, he said:
“He’s jealous. Then he wants to say I’m nothing, and if UFC offer me him, he’s not gonna take it because he wants to tell everyone in this world I’m not in his level. He was saying [Charles] Oliveira is good fighter, [Justin] Gaethje good fighter, Max Holloway good fighter, but he didn’t say anything about me. How can it be? It’s just a joke, you know?”
Tsarukyan added:
“If you say something, you got to answer why, right?… He said, ‘I don’t know.’ So, he’s the stupid guy, not me, because he doesn’t even know like why I’m retard or dumb as f*ck.”
Edited by Abhishek Nambiar