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Arman Tsarukyan sounded off on the UFC for offering him a fight against Mateusz Gamrot.
The No.1-ranked lightweight, Tsarukyan, has suffered two losses during his UFC tenure against pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev and number seven-ranked Gamrot.
Tsarukyan was scheduled for a title shot against Makhachev in January before pulling out due to a back injury during fight week.
The 28-year-old Armenian lightweight recently spoke with Sport24, revealing he was offered a rematch against Gamrot. Tsarukyan explained why he turned down the matchup:
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"They offered me a fight in Abu Dhabi in July, main event of the evening. I refused because they offered an opponent I didn't want to fight. He's ranked below me, and I didn't see the point in fighting him just for money. There's no point in me to fight in MMA. I need to fight at least from the top five or top six to win and guarantee myself a title shot next."
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Tsarukyan followed up by saying:
"There's no point in just fighting. I am number one. Why should I gift a fight to number ten. Nobody gave me such a gift when I was in the top ten. I fought top ten, top eight, top seven, top five, top four before I became number one. I don't want to give up my rank just like that."
Watch Arman Tsarukyan's comments about being offered to fight Gamrot below:
Arman Tsarukyan felt the UFC offering him a fight against Mateusz Gamrot was "disrespectful"
Arman Tsarukyan accepted the UFC's decision to not give him an immediate lightweight title shot after withdrawing from the UFC 311 main event against Islam Makhachev.
During the aforementioned interview, Tsarukyan admitted he expected a higher-ranked opponent from the UFC than Gamrot, making him "angered" by the offer:
"The UFC has angered me that they offered me such an opponent. For them, this is disrespectful towards me. I deserve better. I'm ranked number one. I'm not saying give me a title fight, but give me a number one contender fight."
Notably, Arman Tsarukyan is riding a four-fight winning streak, including a split decision win against Charles Oliveira in April 2024. Meanwhile, Mateusz Gamrot last fought in August 2024, suffering a split decision loss against Dan Hooker.
Instead of fighting Tsarukyan, Gamrot is scheduled to face Ludovit Klein on May 31 in a fight night co-main event.
