Dana White Shuts Down Rumors: Did UFC Punish Arman Tsarukyan Over Title Shot Snub?
Dana White kinda sort of addressed rumors that he’s punishing Arman Tsarukyan for his late-notice pull-out of the UFC 311 headliner against Islam Makhachev.
Mere hours before he was scheduled to challenge Makhachev for the UFC lightweight title, Tsarukyan bowed out of the bout citing a back injury. It was a shocking turn of events, but fortunately, Renato Moicano was ready to step up to the plate and save the main event.
Following the event, Dana White confirmed that Tsarukyan’s scrap with Makhachev would not be rescheduled and that the Armenian would have to go “back to the drawing board.” That left a lot of fans suggesting that the promotion was punishing Tsarukyan, particularly after rumors started to fly that he wasn’t really injured and instead exited the contest due to complications while cutting weight.
Addressing some of the chatter after Thursday’s Power Slap event in Riyadh, White offered little in the way of an explanation. Instead, he simply told everyone that they’ll have to “watch and see” how the story plays out.
“I know there’s a lot of conspiracy theories out there about this,” White said. “You’ll just have to watch and see how this plays out.”
Arman Tsarukyan names ‘Do Bronx’ and Michael Chandler as potential opponents After Dana White’s title snub
While Arman Tsarukyan is still listed as the top-ranked contender in the lightweight division, he’ll have to fight his way back into the good graces of the UFC before earning his first crack at 155-pound gold.
As it turns out, ‘Ahalkalakets’ already has a couple of big names in mind for his return to the Octagon later this year.
“Islam [Makhachev] gonna come back in summer or October,” Tsarukyan said on the JAXXON podcast. “He’s not gonna fight in April, May or June. Maybe Islam gonna move to 170, and I can fight Charles [Oliveira]. Or if they aren’t going to do that, then I’m gonna fight with Michael Chandler.”
Tsarukyan already holds a victory over ‘Do Bronx,’ besting the Brazilian fan favorite via split decision at UFC 300.
As for Michael Chandler, the former Bellator titleholder has lost four of his last five, but still holds the No. 7 spot in the lightweight rankings so he could be a viable opponent for Tsarukyan.
