Arman Tsarukyan thinks the UFC’s first most important occasion of 2026 is nothing however a joke.
Emanating from the acquainted confines of T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas, UFC 324 will see Paddy Pimblett square off with Justin Gaethje for the interim light-weight championship. The winner will transfer on to problem reigning undisputed titleholder Ilia Topuria someday in 2025 — a lot to the chagrin of Tsarukyan.
For greater than a 12 months, Tsarukyan has been the top-ranked contender within the light-weight division, however as a substitute of competing for the interim belt this Saturday evening, he’ll sit on the sidelines and watch two lesser-ranked athletes struggle for it.
“Paddy Pimblett versus Justin Gaethje… I hope it’s Gaethje, as a result of I don’t like Paddy,” Tsarukyan informed Demetrious Johnson. “If it was me versus Paddy proper now, it could be such an enormous struggle. Gaethje’s not that fascinating — he barely beat Fiziev, and so they give him a title struggle. If Paddy wins, in fact, I would like him. I’ll smash him simple. For me, it’s a joke that these guys are preventing for the belt after I’m the primary contender.”
Arman Tsarukyan continues to be making an attempt to get his title struggle after final 12 months’s debacle
Tsarukyan was really scheduled to face then-champion Islam Makhachev final January, however an alleged again harm pressured him to bow out of the bout simply 48 hours from Struggle Night time. The harm was met with some scrutiny, leading to Dana White forcing Tsarukyan to go “back to the drawing board” earlier than getting one other alternative at UFC gold.
Since then, ‘Ahalkalakets’ has scored a second-round submission victory over Dan Hooker in November. Many, together with Tsarukyan, assumed that will be sufficient to get him again within the good graces of the UFC.
It seems that’s not the case.
Now, Tsarukyan will doubtless sit on the sidelines for almost all of 2026 whereas awaiting the winner of Ilia Topuria vs. both Pimblett or Gaethje, relying on who emerges victorious this weekend.
