Dana White remains cold on Arman Tsarukyan getting a second chance at UFC title

UFC CEO Dana White still doesn’t think Arman Tsarukyan can be trusted in a big spot.

Tsarukyan is widely viewed as the best possible contender for the UFC Lightweight Championship. With Ilia Topuria on hiatus due to personal matters, an interim title fight has been booked between Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gaethje for UFC 324. This has once again left Tsarukyan on the outside looking in.

UFC’s issue with Tsarukyan stems from his failure to weigh in for a planned title fight against Islam Makhachev back in January. It was a highly anticipated bout but UFC was left scrambling mere hours before the weigh-ins. There had been a lot of back and forth over whether Tsarukyan was at fault for his back injury due to a poor weight cut.

During the UFC 323 post-fight press conference, White made his stance clear on Tsarukyan (via MMAJunkie).

“You can’t do that,” White said. “You can’t get the opportunity and then – it can’t end that way. He’s got to work his way back. … He knows what’s going on. I don’t give a sh*t what everybody else says. He knows what’s going on, and he’s got to work his way back to that title shot.”

Tsarukyan is riding a five-fight winning streak and he has gone 10-1 in his last 11 outings. It’s been clear to MMA experts that Tsarukyan’s skills could cause problems for anyone at 155 pounds. The problem is, Tsarukyan doesn’t have the pull of bigger stars to be able to overcome the aforementioned UFC 311 incident at the moment.

For now, Tsarukyan will need to stay ready in the event that there is an injury that disrupts UFC’s plans. At that point, the top MMA promotion may need the services of “Ahalkalakets.” Time will tell if that opportunity arises, but for now, Tsarukyan is left wondering how long it will be before he gets another chance.