The MMA fans were in for arguably the greatest lightweight matchup back in January when Dana White offered a bout between the No. 1 pound-for-pound Islam Makhachev and No. 1 UFC lightweight ranker Arman Tsarukyan. Back in 2019 when the two fought, the Armenian was touted as the Dagestani champ’s toughest test to date. In fact, the latter only won via only a unanimous decision. So, when the bout was fixed again, Arman gave a shocker to everyone, pulling out of the contest merely days before the UFC 311 headliner. No wonder, with White claiming that he would “have to fight his way back to the title,” the relationship was on thin ice. Now while Akhalkalakets will have to wait for another chance at the gold, it turns out they did offer him “a fight in Abu Dhabi in July, main event of the evening.” Interestingly, he denied that one too.

One evening as Arman was walking down the street, a reporter from Sports24 interrupted him for a quick Q&A. In the interview, the Armenian revealed one name– Mateusz Gamrot. Reportedly, the UFC lightweight leader was offered a bout against the current No. 7. And let’s just say that the former was not exactly impressed as he clarified, “The UFC has angered me that they offered me such an opponent. For them, this is disrespectful towards me. I deserve better. I’m ranked No. 1. I’m not saying give me a title fight, but give me a No. 1 contender fight.” And his reasoning of not wanting to “give up my rank just like that” is understandably a good one.

The Armenian would not gain anything by risking his top contender spot against a lower-ranked fighter. Not when another win can push White to offer him another chance at Islam’s gold. But turns out, it might be another fighter that he was asked to go against when he claimed, “they offered an opponent I didn’t want to fight.” One MMA legend might have a second option who cannot get a title shot “without going through somebody meaningful.”

According to Chael Sonnen, ‘Ahalkalakets’ was apparently put against Paddy Pimblett and not Gamrot. On his YouTube channel, Sonnen said, “Tsarukyan has been oddly quiet, but would fit the bill… You know, Tsarukyan alluded to something a couple of weeks ago. Tsarukyan did an interview. He was outside on the street, someone approached him with a camera. Tsarukyan commented that he had been called by the UFC, that he had been offered a fight, and that he was insulted. The fight that they were offering him, telling him where he stands in their eyes, insulted him.”

But there was a catch! ‘The Bad Guy’ mentioned that ‘Ahalkalakets’ never really revealed the name that insulted him. And his guess was none other than Pimblett. ‘The American Gangster’ continued, “But he didn’t tell us who that was. And I’m curious. Who is the person that would have insulted him, that he saw so much beneath him? Was he Paddy? Was he looking at Paddy and blowing him off? Paddy would be a very dangerous fight, and he still is. Because Paddy still has that playful like character. He has that playful, like, showman type character. And so the fear comes when we’ve got the reality that playful showman-like character is a stone-cold bad a** cage fighter above it all.”

You see, “the real deal” as White called him once, Paddy has been on the rise recently. With 7 wins and no defeats in the UFC, Dana White seemed to have taken a liking to ‘The Baddy’. And his domination of Michael Chandler at UFC 314 pushed him to the 8th spot in the lightweight rankings. But was it enough to push him towards a title shot? ‘The American Gangster’ didn’t think so and opined that he needs one more fight to prove himself and his match with Tsarukyan could be a “safe” one. He also dropped Justin Gaethje as another contendor for Paddy. However, both of them have remained awfully quiet regarding that. And that’s when he began to talk about Tsarukyan getting insulted.

Of course, Sonnen’s claims were further strengthened by the British lightweight’s words for Tsarukyan after the Armenian star pulled out from the Islam Makhachev fight. Per Pimblett, it was a bit too convenient. Now, he has nothing but heat to spew at ‘Ahalkalakets’.

Paddy Pimblett subtly attacks Arman Tsarukyan for missing out on a golden opportunity

During his conversation on Full Send Podcast, ‘The Baddy‘ lashed out at Tsarukyan for missing out on fighting Makhachev. He said, “The only person in the top 10 I can think of who’s under 35 is Arman Tsarukyan. He’s just a little posh boy who’s had everything handed to him on a silver platter by his dad. No (he didn’t get injured), he’s a bi–h a-s. That’s what you are, Arman, little b— boy.”

Weighing in on how the UFC head honcho denied giving Arman another shot at the title, Pimblett said, “Dana shot him down in that interview. I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s heavy.’ You don’t want the boss saying that about you because he got asked, Is Arman still No. 1, and he was like, ‘No, he’s going to have to go back to the drawing board.’ … He decided he’s not going to fight. So basically, Arman, you s— your pants. You farted and followed through and had s— coming down your leg.”

For now, Tsarukyan still rules the #1 contender’s spot in the lightweight division. But he might not get a title shot right away. First, Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira will battle it out for the soon-to-be vacant lightweight belt at UFC 317. And then, maybe, Tsarukyan will get to fight for the belt, provided he wins his next battle. No doubt, he’s in a pretty tough spot.

What do you think of the fight between Tsarukyan and Pimblett? Who do you think would win if the two ever got to share the Octagon? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.