Arman Tsarukyan earned the number one title contender bout against Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 after flattening Beneil Dariush in the first round in spectacular fashion last year. And the #4 ranked lightweight managed to eke out a close split decision win against ‘Do Bronx’ on the anniversary mega-card on Saturday. This, of course, means he is next in line to challenge Islam Makhachev for the 155-pound crown.

However, it turns out that Tsarukyan actually turned down a bout offered by the UFC to fight the Dagestani. This choice has baffled UFC commentator and former superstar Chael Sonnen, who trashed the lightweight on the move. However, despite ‘Uncle Chael’s apprehensions, Tsarukyan had good reasons to turn down the fight.

Chael Sonnen thinks Tsarukyan made a mistake turning down title bout

Arman Tsarukyan spoke to veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani after his UFC win over Charles Oliveira. The Georgia native revealed that he had been offered a fight against champion Islam Makhachev for June 1, just seven weeks later.

Tsarukyan, however, turned it down as he felt it was too quick of a turnaround. He said he would have agreed to the fight had it been towards the latter half of June. This is because the Armenian wanted a chance to get two weeks of rest and a full eight-week camp. However, since the date was already set and not open to change, he turned it down.

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Reacting to this, Chael Sonnen criticized the 27-year-old’s decision. “I couldn’t believe Tsarukyan turned him [Islam Makhachev or UFC 302] down. There is no such thing is not enough time when you’re a wrestler, just doesn’t exist,” he said.

Sonnen felt that this was a defect with MMA fighters, who he felt had an inflated sense of themselves. The former wrestler compared mixed martial artists to wrestlers and felt the latter had a different, more game approach to fighting since they were used to wrestling back-to-back in tournaments. “A number of fighters, when they get inundated by the plague and the curse that is MMA: the fakest group of badasses walking the planet are MMA fighters,” the former UFC star told fans in a video on his YouTube channel.

‘The Bad Guy’ pointed out that since Tsarukyan was not a wrestler, having wrestled as a child and then abandoning it for hockey, it explained why he felt he needed to rest, get a full camp, and then fight Makhachev instead of accepting a fight in June as any wrestler would.

“But it’s mental so Tsarukyan math is ‘I peaked I made weight I fought, everything’s going great… I got to get back in the gym, got to take a couple of weeks off… Go to something called a camp before I can get there again.’ Like it’s one of these things the most MMA guys have [that] wrestlers just simply don’t have… And I just I just assumed that Tsarukyan was a wrestler because he wrestled so well. I went and looked it up turned out he’s a hockey player, he wrestled as a little boy and it stopped for a decade went played hockey and somehow got back into MMA,” he added. And while the lightweight has been vocal about his eagerness to face Makhachev, he will have to wait for the results of Makhachev’s next fight.

Islam Makhachev to fight Dustin Poirier instead

At the UFC 300 post-fight press conference, Dana White revealed that Dustin Poirier will be fighting Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 on June 1 in Newark, New Jersey. Although Poirier may not be the most deserving contender given he has lost two of his last four fights, the timing, more than anything has made it possible.

Makhachev who last fought in October ’24, is eager to fight in June, and with no other top contenders available at the time the UFC decided to go with ‘Diamond’. The latter’s recent knockout win over the dangerous Benoit Saint-Denis would undoubtedly have contributed to the UFC’s decision.

Speaking about this bout, Arman Tsarukyan stated that he was wary that Poirier may duck him if he became champion. And this is why he wanted Islam Makhachev to win. While Tsarukyan has good reason to sit out the June booking given the quick turnaround, a lot can change very quickly in the UFC. Let us hope Tsarukyan doesn’t regret turning down a June title shot.