Arman Tsarukyan Responds to Islam Makhachev’s Ducking Accusations

That’s just not truth. The truth is that you want to fight me on short notice to have an extra advantage. It won’t happen again though. When was the last time you fought 2 times in 6 weeks? @MAKHACHEVMMA https://t.co/c7wTudvyRL

— Arman Tsarukyan UFC (@ArmanUfc) April 24, 2024

Arman Tsarukyan has returned fire at Islam Makhachev in response to the champ recently accusing “Ahalkalakets” of ducking him.

Tsarukyan (22-3) scored an impressive split decision win over former champ Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 in what was essentially a title eliminator.

Immediately after the win Tsarukyan was offered a title shot against Makhachev at UFC 302 on June 1. Tsarukyan turned it down, citing the short notice and the bid has now gone to Dustin Poirier.

When asked about Tsarukyan declining the shot, Makhachev claimed he was already expecting it as the Armenian-Russian has turned him down multiple times in the past.

“I'm not surprised [he turned it down] because this guy talk about rematch all his life, but I don’t remember, this is maybe the 3rd or 4th time UFC give him a chance to fight me and he said no,” Makhachev told New York Post Sports. “The UFC told me ‘We give you opponent after UFC 300’ but in my opinion, I know if Arman beat Oliveira he [would] never take this fight.”

Tsarukyan suffered a unanimous decision loss against Makhachev in his short-notice UFC debut in 2019, when he gave the Dagestani a run for his money. Responding to Makhachev’s comments, Tsarukyan has accused the champ of insisting on a short-notice matchup in order to have an unfair advantage.

“That’s just not truth,” the 27-year-old wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). “The truth is that you want to fight me on short notice to have an extra advantage. It won’t happen again though. When was the last time you fought 2 times in 6 weeks?”