Apr 13, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Arman Tsarukyan during UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

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Arman Tsarukyan Fires Back, Refuses To Let Ilia Topuria’s Recent Comments Slide

Apr 13, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Arman Tsarukyan during UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The lightweight division has always been full of drama and rivalries. Fighters trash talk constantly, trying to secure bigger paydays and marquee matchups. But sometimes the shots fired go beyond typical promotion and cross into genuinely personal territory.

Arman Tsarukyan fires back at Ilia Topuria after the champion’s recent verbal assault. The tension between these two has been building for months. Now it’s reached a boiling point with Tsarukyan questioning whether Topuria’s family issues are even real.

Ilia Topuria’s Interview Crossed The Line

Ilia Topuria attended a WOW FC event in Madrid earlier this month. As a stakeholder in the promotion, he linked up with Eldoberdan MMA for an interview. What followed was basically a scorched earth campaign against multiple fighters in his division.Topuria declared himself superior to everyone in the lightweight rankings. He specifically named Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan as fighters who posed no threat to him whatsoever. That alone would’ve been enough to generate headlines. But ‘El Matador’ wasn’t finished yet.

He absolutely destroyed Tsarukyan for pulling out of his UFC 311 title fight against Makhachev. Topuria questioned his toughness and commitment. He acted like Tsarukyan had committed some unforgivable sin by withdrawing from the bout. The comments felt deeply personal rather than typical pre-fight promotion.

Arman Tsarukyan Questions The Legitimacy Of Family Issues

Arman Tsarukyan clearly had enough of Topuria’s trash talk. He fired back on social media with a response that hit where it hurts. Tsarukyan pointed out the obvious contradiction in Topuria’s behavior.

“You talking about taking time off from fighting to fix your family issues, but it looks like you have plenty of free time for all these interviews. You’re a joke El P****ha”

You talking about taking time off from fighting to fix your family issues, but it looks like you have plenty of free time for all these interviews.
You’re a joke El Panocha 🐱 https://t.co/YFDJRRC7t2
— Arman Tsarukyan UFC (@ArmanUfc) December 22, 2025

The skepticism isn’t entirely unfounded. Topuria announced his hiatus but continues making inflammatory statements about other fighters. He’s threatened to submit Islam Makhachev in front of Khabib Nurmagomedov. He’s dismissed multiple contenders as beneath his level. These aren’t the actions of someone focused on resolving personal matters.

Tsarukyan most recently defeated Dan Hooker via second-round submission at UFC Qatar. That impressive performance didn’t earn him an immediate title shot though. The UFC scheduled an interim title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett for UFC 324 in January 2026. The winner will eventually face Topuria for the undisputed lightweight championship.

(Image Credit: Mark J. Rebilas – Imagn Images)

Arman Tsarukyan

Ilia Topuria

Zaid Quraishi

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I am a dedicated MMA and Boxing content writer at The Playoffs. I was instantly hooked on MMA after watching the fight between Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi back in 2014, and since then, i have been an avid writer with a deep love for the sport and its techniques, providing readers with a thorough understanding of the sport. My favorite aspect of working at The Playoffs is the creative freedom it provides. The diverse range of topics, from listicles and SEO to news articles, keeps me engaged and motivates me to continuously improve my skills! I aim to capture the excitement of the combat sports world in my writing, acting as the middleman between fighters and their die-hard fans. It is kind of like a referee, but with words!