Topuria Calls Tsarukyan A "Man Child"

Ilia Topuria has turned his attention to Arman Tsarukyan ahead of UFC Freedom 250, as he hit out at him.

The lightweight champion, preparing to defend his title against Justin Gaethje on June 14, has taken direct aim at the event's backup fighter — with a combination of personal and financial attacks.

"He has the mind of a little kid. 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. I know a huge amount of rich people — none of them, not a single one of them is like that. He's like buying a car and sending it to Russia and reselling it. He's like a loser,” Topuria

The backdrop to the exchange matters. Tsarukyan was publicly named by Dana White as the backup fighter for Freedom 250 — a designation that keeps him close to a title shot without delivering one. The tension between him and Topuria has been building for months through a series of public exchanges that have made their eventual meeting one of the more anticipated fights the division has to offer.

However, Gaethje remains the immediate priority for Topuria on June 14. But the language directed at Tsarukyan this week suggests the champion has already looked past the interim title unification bout. Arman, though, has doubts that Ilia would fight him.

"He's jealous. He wants to say like I'm nothing and if you see like offer me him, he's not going to take it because he wants to tell everybody in this world that I'm not in his level. He was saying like [Charles] Oliveira is good fighter, [Justin] Gaethje is good fighter, Max Holloway is good fighter, but he didn't say anything about me. How can it be like, it's just a joke,” Arman stated