The path to a UFC title is rarely straightforward, but according to one veteran fighter, the roadblock for a blockbuster lightweight clash isn’t an injury or a contract dispute—it’s the notoriously firm Dana White himself. For a while, it felt like the Ilia Topuria vs Arman Tsarukyan fight would happen soon, considering Topuria is the champion, and Tsarukyan was the No.1 contender.

Yet, the condition of the lightweight division now is such that ‘El Matador’ is defending his title against Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250, while there’s not much clarity on when or if Tsarukyan will get his title shot. Talking about the highly anticipated fight, Jorge Masvidal blamed Dana White’s stubbornness for the delay in the bout.

“I don’t know if he fights him, if he gets the winner of it, because Dana could be as stubborn as anybody that I’ve ever seen,” Masvidal said on the DeathRow podcast. “You know, it’s really Dana who’s put the stop on him. And Dana’s the only one that can lift that. Now, nobody else in that company can say when Arman’s going to fight. And it sucks because I’m one of these guys that feels like, yeah, he f–d up. I think it was either the day before, the day of, he pulled out.”

When it comes to Arman Tsarukyan’s title shot, Dana White has remained very clear in his responses. The UFC CEO stated that the Armenian already missed his chance to fight for the gold, referring to Tsarukyan’s last-minute pullout at UFC 311 against Islam Makhachev due to an injury.

After that withdrawal, the promotion had to replace Tsarukyan with Renato Moicano, significantly lowering the competition in the main event. For that and a few other reasons, the 56-year-old has remained adamant in his decision not to hand Tsarukyan a title shot, stating that the top contender needs to work his way back.

As a result, his stance against the lightweight contender has come under scrutiny from voices like Ariel Helwani and Demetrious Johnson. Both pointed out how the UFC has been wasting Tsarukyan’s prime by not matching him against Topuria. Now, Jorge Masvidal has echoed the same sentiment.

“I don’t want it to be like four or five years from now,” the UFC star added. “I’d rather it be while they’re both in their prime. I’ve trained with both of them a good amount of times. I think both of them are next-level athletes, way above average with the speed, the power, the explosion. They’re both phenomenal athletes, and both can fight really, really well.”

Ilia Topuria is open to fighting Arman Tsarukyan

The reigning lightweight champion has a heated rivalry with Arman Tsarukyan. Yet he preferred clashing with other marquee contenders like Paddy Pimblett because of their history, and Justin Gaethje because of the Arizona native’s status in the UFC. At one point, Topuria claimed that he would vacate his belt rather than fight the Armenian. However, that stance seems to have changed ahead of his June 14 title fight with ‘The Highlight’.

“If they call me tomorrow and they tell me Justin is injured and I have to fight Arman, I will fight Arman, no problem,” Topuria told Ariel Helwani. “If they call me and they tell me that Arman is injured and I have to fight Ariel, I’m gonna fight Ariel, no problem. I go whoever, whenever, I’m ready.”

This marks a clear public shift in Ilia Topuria’s stance, as he appears to no longer be avoiding a potential bout with Tsarukyan. Also, ‘Ahalkalakets’ has claimed that he’s the backup fighter for the UFC White House event. Though the promotion hasn’t confirmed the Armenian’s backup status officially. However, if Gaethje pulls out for some reason, we might finally see the long-awaited Tsarukyan vs Topuria clash.