Arman Tsarukyan says he was offered a lightweight title fight at UFC 302, however the ascending 155-pound star turned it down following his split decision win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 300.
Tsarukyan revealed Monday during an appearance on The MMA Hour that he and his team declined a June 1 main event matchup with Islam Makhachev due to Tsarukyan not feeling there was enough time to prepare for a championship bout against a fighter he has previously faced.
The 27-year-old from Armenia made his UFC debut four years ago against Makhachev, the reigning lightweight champion, and did so without going through a full training camp.
Tsarukyan gave Makhachev the toughest test of the champ’s current 13-fight winning streak and the contest earned both men a Fight of the Night bonus. Makhachev won a three-round unanimous decision and both fighters have continued improving since that first meeting.
Tsarukyan explained that had the offer been for a late June fight he would’ve likely taken it. That way, instead of a seven-week camp with no rest after preparing for and beating a former champion like Oliveira, he would be able to rest for a couple weeks then complete a full eight-week camp to prepare for what would be an anticipated five-round rematch.
“Why I gotta take the same risk like I did first fight? It’s the same thing, short notice," Tsarukyan explained. "I want to be ready and I want to have full training camp and why, if I’m No. 1 contender, why I gotta take a risk?
“It was hard to say no but I know I’m going to fight next for the title with the winner of that fight,” Tsarukyan added.
With only seven weeks until UFC 302, the organization instead awarded Dustin Poirier the next title shot.
Poirier is coming off a memorable knockout win over Benoit Saint Denis in March at UFC 299 to position himself for another crack at UFC gold. UFC 302 will be Poirier’s third attempt to win the undisputed lightweight title. He was previously submitted by Makhachev’s teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2019 and by Oliveira in 2021.
Makhachev is coming off back-to-back title defences against Alexander Volkanovski, the second of which was a highlight knockout at UFC 294 this past October.
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