Arman Tsarukyan turned down a lightweight title clash against champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 on June 1. While the Armenian, like all (or at least most) fighters, came into the promotion with dreams of becoming champion, he had good reasons to turn down the bout. But, this did not go down well with many, including #7 ranked lightweight Michael Chandler, who will face Conor McGregor on the latter’s much-awaited comeback at UFC 303. The former Bellator champion expressed his surprise at the 27-year-old turning down a shot at the 155-pound crown, which got a savage response from Tsarukyan.

And so savage was Tsarukyan’s response, that former UFC star Josh ‘The Punk’ Thomson and legendary MMA referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy termed it brilliant, and took this opportunity to call out the UFC’s emotionally manipulative tactics in even offering Tsarukyan title shot.

Thomson and ‘Big John’ excoriate UFC for trying to play on Tsarukyan’s emotions

Speaking about Arman Tsarukyan’s response to Chandler, Thomson told his ‘Weighing-In Podcast’ co-host ‘Big John’ that he thought it was “one of the slickest comebacks by Arman Tsarukyan, I think by any fighter I’ve ever heard.” Chandler had said that he didn’t understand “why Tsarukyan didn’t take the Islam Makhachevev fight” and claimed that “I would have taken it” despite the quick turnaround time, since “this sport moves fast.”

Thomson and McCarthy, however, were firmly of the opinion that Tsarukyan did the right thing by refusing to fight so soon and felt that the UFC had done many fighters dirty like this by playing on their emotions.

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“He was offered the fight in the back right after his win over Charles Oliveira and let me remind, let me preface this by saying the UFC is known to do this all the time. You’re hot with emotions, they know you’re coming off of a big win you’re in the back, they come in and they say ‘hey we want you to fight on this fight coming up in like five weeks, eight weeks whatever’… For the title in eight weeks or six weeks what do most Fighters say, John? Okay. They’re slurping up with Dana selling… so it’s emotions and the UFC they’re feeding on that emotion,” Thomson said while discussing the feud between the Armenian and the Missouri native.

Arman Tsarukyan’s rejoinder at Chandler, however, took the cake and tickled Thomson and ‘Big John’ to no end. “I don’t expect you to understand Michael Chandler. We are not on the same level. I’m here to become Champion you are just waiting for a paycheck. I also don’t understand why you waited for the Conor fight for 2 years. You could have lost four exciting fights during that time,” the 27-year-old had said. And to be fair, Chandler himself has claimed that he aims to have exciting fights at the UFC over even winning a title.

Given that the Armenian used no profanity or even really trash-talked the former Bellator champion, Thomson felt the response “was brilliant.” However, it is quite rare to see a fighter turn down a title bout, especially in a division as stacked and dynamic as 155 pounds. This raises one important question.

Why did Arman Tsarukyan turn down the 155-lbs title shot?

Arman Tsarukyan battled former champion and perennial title contender Charles Oliveira to a unanimous decision win at the UFC 300 anniversary mega-card on April 13. Their bout was to determine the number one lightweight title contender. The winner was set to fight champion Islam Makhachev next. And true to their word, the Dana White led-promotion offered Tsarukyan a title shot. But with one catch. Islam Makhachev, who has been out since his spectacular UFC 294 head-kick KO of Alexander Volkanovski, is anxious to fight in June.

And on being told he would be required to fight for the title on June 1, barely seven weeks from his UFC 300 victory, Tsarukyan turned it down. The 27-year-old revealed in an interview that he found the quick turnaround too little time to recover and prepare and thus turned the title shot down. However, if Makhachev wins his UFC 302 bout against Dustin Poirier (who accepted the fight after Tsarukyan turned it down), which the champion is expected to win, Tsarukyan will still be next in line. But, this is the UFC, and stranger things have happened.

What do you think about Tsarukyan’s decision? Let us know in the comments below.