UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria went off on Arman Tsarukyan, saying he will break his jaw in the first round if they fight.
Topuria faces Justin Gaethje in a title unification bout at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. For Topuria, this will be his first fight in nearly a year since knocking out Charles Oliveira last June at UFC 317 to win the vacant UFC lightweight title. Since then, Topuria has been sitting on the sidelines, dealing with personal strife as he recently went through a divorce and child custody battle. Now that those personal issues are taken care of, Topuria will get back into the Octagon and fight Gaethje, which will help the UFC lightweight division get rolling again.
Should Topuria emerge victorious, the next natural title contender in the division is Tsarukyan, who has won his last five fights in a row. The two lightweights do not like each other, as they have traded barbs in interviews and on social media in recent years. That includes an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday, when Topuria went off on Tsarukyan, criticizing his rival for flaunting his wealth on social media while calling him all sorts of names and saying that he will break his jaw in the first round if they ever meet inside the Octagon.
“Bro, you’re not even rich. You’re spending your father’s money, not even yours. You know what I mean, he’s a (expletive) kid,” Topuria said. “He’s not on my level. We cross the paths, like I’m gonna break his jaw in the first round. Like what he’s gonna do? He’s gonna take me down? Bro, please.”
Ilia Topuria is the No. 2 Ranked P4P Fighter in the UFC
Topuria is the UFC lightweight champion, the former UFC featherweight champion, and the No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, just one spot behind No. 1-ranked Islam Makhachev, the UFC welterweight champion. In his MMA career, Topuria holds a perfect 17-0 record, including a 9-0 record in the UFC since he joined the promotion in 2020. His notable wins inside the Octagon include Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway, Alexander Volkanovski, and Josh Emmett.
Arman Tsarukyan is the No. 13 Ranked P4P Fighter in the UFC
Tsarukyan is the No. 13-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC, and he is ranked as the No. 2 contender in the UFC lightweight division, just behind interim champion Justin Gaethje. Tsarukyan joined the UFC in 2019, and since then, he has racked up an impressive 10-2 record, with notable wins over the aforementioned Oliveira, Dan Hooker, Beneil Dariush, and Joel Alvarez.
Tsarukyan has not fought for a UFC title yet, but he was supposed to last year. In January 2025, Tsarukyan was scheduled to fight Makhachev for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 311, but he pulled out the day before the fight after suffering a back injury during his weight cut. Instead, Renato Moicano got the fight with Makhachev, while Tsarukyan lost his chance to fight for the belt. He has only fought one time since then, a dominant win over Hooker, though his resume is strong enough that he will likely be next in line to face the winner of Topuria vs. Gaethje for the lightweight belt later this year.
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