Dana White’s latest announcement about the Paramount+ CBS card shattered many hearts. The announcement appeared to toss around title fights without much thought. However, lightweight champion Ilia Topuria, who isn’t even on the card, is finding himself in the thick of it.

The 155-pound champion announced his hiatus from UFC with a statement on X. “I won’t be fighting in the first quarter of next year. I’m going through a difficult moment in my personal life. I want to focus on my children and resolve this situation as soon as possible,” he wrote. With that, Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett are set to compete for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324. It looks like Arman Tsarukyan will have to wait longer for his turn despite being the No.1 contender.

However, a new video clip shared by Aleksandre Topuria, Ilia Topuria’s older brother, on X, has flipped the narrative upside down. The clip featured the UFC champion and his friends immersed in a close-circle celebration over alcohol, food, and singing along to Spanish music in the backdrop. The fun outing has called into question his confession of a “difficult moment” in his life.

That led to many speculations about Topuria ducking Tsarukyan.

When ‘Ahalkalakets’ called out ‘El Matador’ after his decisive win against Dan Hooker, the lightweight champion didn’t believe Tsarukyan deserved a chance. Plus, in July, the lightweight king already explained how he didn’t want to give the Armenian a shot at his title. “I’m the world champion, I’m never going to give him a chance to fight for the title.”

The Georgian fighter pointed out Tsarukyan’s unreliability as the reason for his unwillingness to fight him. “Listen, when you put so much effort in the game, and you have a guy in front who you don’t know that maybe he could pull out from the fight, that’s not something good for us,” Topuria said, criticizing Tsarukyan.

Tsarukyan had pulled out of his title fight with Islam Makhachev in the last moment, citing a back injury. That put him at odds not only with UFC CEO Dana White but the entire MMA fandom.

However, when Tsarukyan stepped inside the cage, he awed fans with his superior striking and seat-gripping ground game. Hitting the mats, Tsarukyan worked to set up a tight arm-triangle against Dan Hooker, getting the submission win in the second round. And that has had a section of fans thinking whether Topuria is intentionally avoiding him.

MMA fans look beyond Ilia Topuria’s rejection

Fans quickly jumped in with the only possible explanation: avoiding a fight with Arman Tsarukyan, the real contender for the title shot. They wrote:

• “Yeah that a rough life.”
• “‘I’m going through tough times’ aka I’m ducking Arman 😂😂😂.”

However, as per rumors, the fighter is having difficulties in his personal life. Reports about a divorce from his wife, Giorgina, have been doing the rounds on the internet. But the fighter has neither directly confirmed nor denied it.

All that said, fans found it difficult to believe he was facing difficulties after seeing a video of him having a good time with family and friends.

• “Damn bro is suffering.”
• “This the tough time he was talking about?😂.”

Many of the comments were sarcastic. Regardless, some MMA fans also brought up Tsarukyan’s name.

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• “Ducking time.”

It wouldn’t be an MMA roast comment section without memes, with one user posting an image of a duck running from a man, replacing the duck’s face with Topuria’s and the man’s with Tsarukyan’s.

Tsarukyan seems to have been receiving a lot of support from fans. His comeback was statement-worthy, especially after a hiatus of more than a year. This win at UFC Qatar extended his win streak to five fights and positioned him staunchly as the No. 1 contender. Yet, this blatant snub stood out as a sore thumb.