Ilia Topuria has called Arman Tsarukyan a ‘loser’ ahead of their potential meetings next month.
In just under a month’s time, Ilia Topuria will make the first defense of his lightweight title when he takes on Justin Gaethje in a title unification fight in the UFC White House main event.
With the event being one of the most highly anticipated events of all time, Dana White confirmed recently that the number one ranked lightweight, Arman Tsarukyan, will play the role as backup.
And with the pair of stars continuing to be linked together, ‘El Matador’ has gone in on the Armenian, calling him a ‘man child’ and touching on his family wealth.
Topuria begins war of words with Tsarukyan
Although ‘Ahalkalakets’ isn’t particularly fond of his role as the backup, he will of course be quietly hoping for an injury so that he is able to finally fight for the title.
When he first found out about the news that Tsarukyan will be the official backup, Topuria gave a typical answer, claiming that it doesn’t matter to him who he fights on June 14.
But now with not long left until his fight, ‘El Matador’ has sparked a war of words with Tsarukyan, calling him a ‘man child’ and claiming that he plays a character of being ‘rich’ when he is not.
“He has the mind of a little kid, you know?” Topuria told Alvaro Colmenero.
“He’s a man child who is playing a game. I think he’s playing the rich guy game and he’s neither rich nor is his father, I’m telling you,” he continued.
Throughout his UFC career, Tsarukyan has consistently received insults regarding his family’s generational wealth, with fighters in the past attempting to use it against him.
“I know a huge amount of rich people, none of them, none, not a single one of them is like that, you know? He’s playing a game of buying a car and sending it to Russia and reselling it.
“And I think he’s not even rich, I’m telling you for real. He’s like a loser.”
Despite Topuria’s claims, though, whatever the 29-year-old is doing is clearly working for him at the moment as he continues to gain popularity in the sport.
That popularity has seen him finally get back into the good books of the UFC, and he has now made himself undeniable as the next lightweight title challenger after Gaethje and Topuria’s clash.