UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan was caught in hot water Saturday night amid a chaotic scene at RAF 08 in Philadelphia, PA, opposite WEC legend and UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber.
The pair were elevated to the main event after Henry Cejudo withdrew from his match against Merab Dvalishvili due to an undisclosed injury, which Cejudo publicly apologized for. This allowed Tsarukyan vs. Faber to take the spotlight, which, based on one’s opinion, was for better or worse.
Although Tsarukyan was declared the winner by tech fall, it didn’t come without a now-viral controversy that saw both fighters go flying into the stands without warning.
This got former UFC two-division champion Daniel Cormier, whose primary MMA style began with a wrestling base, fired up about Tsarukyan’s recent antics.
Daniel Cormier Pushes Back on Arman Tsarukyan’s Latest Saga
“Arman [Tsarukyan] was in purgatory,” Cormier said in a new YouTube video. “It’s almost like the trust was gone. But you can start to rebuild that trust through competition.”
Cormier, though, was far from done. He took issue with the American Airlines incident regarding how Tsarukyan handled the aftermath.
“The thing the other day with American Airlines, for us that’s funny,” Cormier said. “But we need to make sure — Arman told me himself, ‘I’ll be a good boy.’ It’s funny to us, but he’s right at that point now where he’s gotta peel back a little bit and he’s gonna get exactly what he wants.”
What Tsarukyan ultimately wants is a title shot, something that has been a bit of a dark cloud prior to his last-minute injury before UFC 311 last January against then-champion Islam Makhachev.
“Everything is going great,” Cormier said regarding Tsarukyan. ” I told his manager the other day, I said, ‘Just don’t f*** this up. Don’t do one thing that kicks you backwards.’ He’s gotta be very careful.”
Arman Tsarukyan’s UFC Future Still Unclear
Cormier said that Tsarukyan’s leverage with the UFC is simply too hard to ignore, though.
“But it’s what he’s doing outside of the Octagon that is now making Arman Tsarukyan a guy — I’m telling you, I know this, I really know, Arman Tsarukyan is now starting to make himself undeniable…[through] all the stuff he’s doing outside of the UFC,” Cormier said.
The UFC has remained relatively quiet on the matter publicly, as Tsarukyan last fought in November against Dan Hooker, which saw him earn a decisive second-round arm-triangle choke.
At least for now, Tsarukyan still awaits his next steps.
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