In a recent interview, Arman Tsarukyan echoed what many had in their minds already, that Islam Makhachev is not interested in facing another fighter that decided to make the jump in weight, at this time.
Makhachev faced, and beat, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski on 2 separate occasions at 155-pounds, and he always saw those bouts as high risk, but with a reward that didn’t necessarily match. Now, with Ilia Topuria vacating his title and moving up to 155-pounds, the buzz surrounding a fight between the pair has been on everyone’s minds.
Tsarukyan was scheduled to face Makhachev himself at UFC 311 in January, but due to a late injury, he was forced to back out of the fight. Makhachev went on to face Renato Moicano, securing the D’Arce choke submission finish in the first round.
In a recent interview, Tsarukyan expressed his thoughts on a potential match between Makhachev and Topuria, but he feels that the champion wouldn’t be interested in the match at this time.
“I think he [Topuria] left 145 because they said, ‘Okay, we’re going to give you title fight,’” Tsarukyan said. “Islam doesn’t want to fight him because if he wins, people are going to say, ‘Okay, he beat a 145-er and he’s not No. 1 contender.’ If Islam beats me, then I think he’s done with this division. He’d beat everybody. He got to beat me, and then people can say that.”