Arman Tsarukyan snubbed as Ilia Topuria whittles down his list of potential opponents to two

Ilia Topuria is still not interested in facing the current number one contender for his title.

After winning the lightweight title earlier this year, Topuria claimed that he’d rather vacate the belt than face Arman Tsarukyan.

‘El Matador’ cited the number one contender’s late notice withdrawal from his planned title fight in January as the reason why he wants nothing to do with the challenger.

Tsarukyan and Topuria recently exchanged comments following the Armenian’s long-awaited return to competition where he produced a dominant victory over Dan Hooker on November 22.

Despite many calling for this fight to happen in the near future, there are only two opponents whom the undefeated champion wants to meet inside the Octagon.

Who should get the next lightweight title shot?

Ilia Topuria wants to fight Paddy Pimblett or Islam Makhachev in his next bout

Bloody Elbow users agreed with the UFC’s pound-for-pound ranking when putting Islam Makhachev above Ilia Topuria in the top spot following UFC 322.

The former lightweight champion successfully moved up a weight class and became the welterweight champion by beating Jack Della Maddalena on November 15.

In a recent interview with Alvaro Colmenero, Topuria made it clear that if it was up to him who his next opponent would be, it would be the new champion at 170 pounds.

Who should Islam Makhachev fight next?

However, there is another fight that he’s interested in taking at lightweight if the UFC doesn’t give him the opportunity to try and become a three-weight champion.

Paddy Pimblett recently continued to climb the rankings despite not fighting since April, with fans questioning whether this means he’s being positioned for the next title shot at 155 pounds.

Along with Tsarukyan, Justin Gaethje, who has claimed he’ll retire if he isn’t next for Topuria, was also snubbed by the champion.

“I have Paddy on my mind,” Topuria stated. “I’d like to fight Paddy [Pimblett] if they don’t let me move up to welterweight to fight Islam [Makhachev], because the fight I’d really like is against Islam in the third weight class.”