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Islam Makhachev Reacts to Arman Tsarukyan Declining Lightweight Championship Match at UFC 302
UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev reacts to Arman Tsarukyan declining fight offer against him at UFC 302. Read on to know more!
At the post-UFC 300 press conference, Dana White announced the return of two big UFC fighters, former UFC champion Conor McGregor, who was going to headline the UFC 303 pay-per-view against Michael Chandler.
For UFC 302, UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will return to face Dustin Poirier in the main event for the lightweight gold.
Dustin Poirier wasn't the first choice for Islam Makhachev at UFC 302; UFC planned that the winner of Charles Oliveira vs Arman Tsarukyan would face Makhachev at UFC 302.
Winner Arman Tsarukyan was offered the fight just after he defeated Charles Oliveira at UFC 300. Still, he declined the fight offer and revealed he needed more time to prepare as he was at war with Charles Oliveira, and only two months to get ready for the title fight was not enough.
Arman revealed while talking on MMA Hour the reason why he declined to fight against Islam Makahchev at UFC 302.
"When I left the Octagon, right away Hunter came and said, 'June 1st, Islam'. I said, 'I gotta think,' and it was like, what, seven weeks left, and I can't return too fast, so I gotta rest a little bit and have a camp. And if it was at the end of June, yea, I would take that fight because I have at least 10 weeks. You know — two weeks' rest and eight weeks for preparation," he explained.
Islam Makhachev Reacts to Arman Tsarukyan's Declining Fight
UFC Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev recently gave an interview to NY Post Sports, where he talked about multiple things. He was asked about Arman declining his fight offer for UFC 302.
Islam said, "I'm not surprised Arman turned it down. Because this guy talks about rematch all his life, but this maybe 3rd or 4th time UFC gave him a chance to fight with me and he said no. the UFC told me 'we give you opponent after UFC 300', I knew if Arman beat Charles Oliveira, he would never take this fight. That's why I'm not surprised."
ALSO READ: Dana White Hits Back at MMA Critics Over UFC 300 Pay-Per-View, REVEALS Record-Breaking Event
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