Outside Source
Topuria vacated his featherweight title earlier this year and moved up to 155 pounds. While Topuria (17-0) was originally targeting Islam Makhachev, he won the vacant title against Charles Oliveira when Makhachev moved up to welterweight. Meanwhile, Tsarukyan was sidelined as punishment for pulling out of a title shot against Makhachev earlier this year.
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Tsarukyan (23-3) returned to action at UFC Qatar last weekend, making easy work of Dan Hooker with a submission victory. While Tsarukyan has long been rallying for a gold bid against Topuria, the champion even threatened retirement if he is forced to defend his title against “Ahalkalakets.” Tsarukyan believes there is no denying him a title shot after his win over Hooker (24-13) at UFC Qatar.
Playing Favorites?
However, O’Malley believes the UFC won’t match Tsarukyan up with Topuria. “Suga” considers Tsarukyan the only legitimate threat to Topuria’s title reign at lightweight. But O’Malley believes the UFC likes Topuria as the champion and doesn’t want his reign threatened by Tsarukyan. O’Malley also believes the UFC doesn’t want Tsarukyan to be a champion.
“Arman is no f—-ing joke. Arman vs. Ilia is an interesting matchup,” O’Malley said on YouTube. “I don’t think the UFC will make Arman vs. Ilia because I think they love Ilia as a champion. He’s a great champion. I don’t think they really want Arman to become champion. He a has f—-ing legitimate chance of beating Ilia… If anyone has a chance at beating Ilia at 155, it’s Arman Tsarukyan.”
Sean O’Malley says the UFC will avoid booking Ilia vs Arman to protect Ilia’s title reign 👀🤯
“I don’t think the UFC will make Arman vs Ilia because I think they love Ilia as a champion. I don’t think they really want Arman to become champion. Arman has a legitimate chance of… pic.twitter.com/Vvj7HsyMsh
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) November 23, 2025
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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