Arman Tsarukyan, Justin Gaethje Get UFC ‘Scam’ Alert Over Ilia Topuria Next Fight

Pulling out of UFC 311 has proved costly for Arman Tsarukya. His aim was to secure a title shot, and he tried to impress Dana White by making weight as the backup fighter for the lightweight title main event at UFC 317. However, there have been rumors linking the champion, Ilia Topuria, to a few contenders except Tsarukyan, and recently, ‘El Matador’s manager teased that he could end up fighting Justin Gaethje.

Ilia Topuria‘s manager, Lukasz Orzel, recently took to social media to send a message to Justin Gaethje, claiming that he was next. In the meantime, one of Jon Jones’s Russian friends, who also appears to be an MMA insider, has given his verdict on this rumor. And guess what? He dismissed it altogether.

Jon Jones’s friend rubbishes a potential Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje fight

Justin Gaethje wants nothing more than a title fight or a big-money fight. He may have just gotten the nod from Ilia Topuria’s camp, but Jon Jones‘ friend, Kamil Gadzhiev, who’s also the owner of the AMC Fight Nights promotion, believes that there is no truth to the champion’s manager’s claims. “But if this is so, this [announcement] is nonsense and such a small scam of Arman Tsarukyan. Personally, [that’s] my opinion,” he stated on his YouTube channel.

He believes that Arman Tsarukyan is the rightful title shot contender next. Justin Gaethje represents the past, as per Kamil Gadhzhiev, and if his record is put up for comparison with ‘Ahalkalakets’s record, placing ‘The Highlight’ in a title fight would make no sense on Dana White and Co.’s part.

“Yes, maybe we are subjective. Arman was sitting here next to me at the results of the week. We love him there. We root for him, and here is some Gaethje,” Kamil Gadzhiev added. “But I just think that the logic is such that it was Arman should have fought now and not Justin Gaethje, with all my respect for him.”

Well, there could be some truth to the comments Jon Jones’s friend has made about this rumor. Ilia Topuria’s manager claimed that the fight is supposed to take place at UFC 322, but we got Islam Makhachev and Jack Della Maddalena fighting there for the welterweight title. So, the claimed date wasn’t true after all. But that’s not it, because even the fans don’t seem too excited about this matchup. But despite the negative reactions to this rumor, Gaethje’s camp claims that he is a bad fight for Topuria.

Gaethje’s manager predicts the outcome of a fight against Topuria

A former interim champion and a former BMF champion, Justin Gaethje has a highly respectable resume. He’s regarded as one of the most violent fighters, if not the most violent, which is exactly what his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, reiterated while addressing the rumor surrounding a potential fight against Ilia Topuria. Nevertheless, he did acknowledge the dangers that ‘El Matador’ poses, claiming that the fight will only end in a knockout.

“Whoever is going to land first is going to go to sleep. This is my opinion. I think Topuria might try to wrestle with Justin, also,” Ali Abdelaziz told Submission Radio. “I think Justin Gaethje is way too dangerous to just stand in front of and throw punches. But at the end of the day, Topuria is a good striker. Justin is a very powerful striker. He’s very dangerous.”

Justin Gaethje’s manager seems to believe that his taking on Ilia Topuria could be “one of the best fights” Dana White can make right now. However, we don’t have any updates on that front from an official standpoint, so we’ll have to wait and see if this is a done deal or if it’s just a rumor and a fake tease, as Kamil Gadzhiev seems to believe. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.