UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria is already looking beyond his upcoming title unification bout with Justin Gaethje.
Topuria is set to headline UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 against interim champion Gaethje, but the undefeated Spaniard-Georgian star made it clear that Arman Tsarukyan remains firmly on his radar.
Tsarukyan was left out of the interim title picture after the UFC matched Gaethje against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324. Gaethje won that fight and secured his shot at undisputed gold, while Tsarukyan continued waiting for his opportunity despite recent wins over Beneil Dariush, Charles Oliveira, and Dan Hooker.
Topuria Questions Tsarukyan’s Resume
During an interview with DeepCut, Topuria dismissed the level of competition Tsarukyan has recently faced and claimed the challenger has never dealt with someone like him inside the Octagon.
“The thing is that they used to take a lot of confidence because they fight with fighters that – his last fight was against Dan Hooker. He has, I don’t know, 20 losses in his professional career.”
Topuria continued to downplay Tsarukyan’s momentum and warned that the matchup would look very different once they share the cage.
“It’s like, bro, you never, ever, like forget about it, never ever in your entire life you faced someone like me.”
‘I’m the King in There’
Tsarukyan has sharpened his wrestling credentials with several grappling appearances while waiting for a UFC booking. Topuria, however, believes the Armenian contender’s grappling will not translate against him in MMA competition.
“It’s like, I’m going to embarrass you in front of everyone… he feels that he’s an Olympic champion.”
Topuria then doubled down on his confidence, insisting he controls every aspect of a fight once the cage door closes.
“Anyway, if he’s the best in the world in wrestling, when it comes to the octagon, bro, I’m the king. In there, I’m the king. I do with you whatever I want to f*cking do.”
Topuria Predicts First-Round Finish
The lightweight champion expects Tsarukyan to wrestle early if the fight happens, but he believes that strategy will quickly fall apart. Topuria said Tsarukyan would panic once he realizes securing takedowns will not come easy.
“It’s not that easy to take these legs and take me down, especially to control me on the ground. You crazy?”
He closed with another fiery warning aimed directly at the top contender.
“He’s going to be panicked and then when I break his jaw, bam. In front of all his crowd, all his people, his family, who gives a f*ck. Bam!”