Arman Tsarukyan on Why He Won’t Grapple Islam Makhachev
It seems like everyone in the UFC wants a piece of Islam Makhachev these days, but actually getting into the ring with him is a whole different story—especially when we’re talking about grappling matches on the side. Arman Tsarukyan, currently playing the waiting game for his shot at lightweight gold, just dropped some truth bombs about why a grappling superfight with the champ isn’t on the cards anytime soon. And honestly? It’s pretty relatable.
It all comes down to cold, hard cash.
Tsarukyan Claims Makhachev Is Just Too Expensive
While the lightweight division tries to figure out its next move, Tsarukyan has been keeping himself busy. He was supposed to be looking at a title shot against Ilia Topuria after taking down Dan Hooker, but thanks to the MMA gods (and Dana White), we’re looking at an interim situation with Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett instead. Topuria is dealing with personal matters, leaving Tsarukyan with some free time on his hands.
Naturally, fans started wondering: if he’s not fighting for the belt right this second, why not hit the mats for a grappling contest? Specifically, against his former rival and current pound-for-pound king, Islam Makhachev.
Tsarukyan shut that down pretty fast in a chat with Red Corner MMA. It’s not that he’s scared; it’s that nobody has the budget for it.
“In the short term, this grappling match won’t happen because Islam makes very big money in the UFC. I don’t think anybody can afford paying him that amount of money.”
Let’s be real—Makhachev isn’t exactly fighting for peanuts anymore. After snagging the lightweight belt and defending it, his price tag has understandably skyrocketed. Expecting him to risk injury in a grappling match for a fraction of his UFC purse is wishful thinking at best. It’s a bummer for fans who wanted to see the scramble, but you can’t blame the guy for knowing his worth.
This whole situation is a bit of a tease, considering Tsarukyan was actually supposed to face Makhachev at UFC 311 before pulling out due to injury. The universe just really doesn’t want us to see these two run it back right now.
The Beef With Ilia Topuria Heats Up
If you thought Tsarukyan was just sitting around calculating fight purses, think again. He’s also got plenty of time to throw shade at Ilia Topuria.
Topuria, who is currently taking a hiatus for family reasons, recently did an interview with Eldoberdan where he didn’t hold back. “El Matador” claimed he’s better than both Tsarukyan and Makhachev, and even went as far as saying he’d submit the legendary (and retired) Khabib Nurmagomedov.
That didn’t sit right with Tsarukyan. He finds it pretty ironic that Topuria is taking time off for “personal issues” but still has time to do media runs and trash talk the entire lightweight elite.
“You [are] 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*****a.”
Ouch. It seems like the “respectful martial artist” vibe is out the window for this rivalry. While we wait for the lightweight division to untangle itself, at least the Twitter fingers are active.
For now, it looks like we won’t be seeing Tsarukyan grappling Makhachev unless some promoter finds a spare couple of million dollars lying around. Until then, we’ll just have to settle for the interim chaos and the escalating war of words.
