Arman Tsarukyan is ready to place his money where his mouth is against Ilia Topuria.
The #1 UFC light weight in the world insured its place at the top of the division with back-to-back victories at former champion Charles Oliveira and multi-year competition Beneil Dariush.
9-1 Since the loss of Islam Makhachev in his UFC debut, Tsarukyan has had to get another title fight while withdrew from his UFC 311 Rematch with the then champion Makhachev in January, due to a back injury.
Tsarukyan has been advertised as Topuria's most difficult test on 155 pounds because of his grab-heavy style, but there is a chance that the competition should fight again because UFC boss Dana White was not happy with how he withdrew from UFC 311.
Topuria recently stated that he would rather leave the title than the addition of Tsarukyan following, who received a lot of recoil from the fans.
There are no guarantees that the fight then happens, but Tsarukyan is willing to make it more interesting.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Arman Tsarukyan bets $ 500,000 He will beat Ilia Topuria
Speaking on the overdog podcast, Mike Perry asked Tsarukyan, as rich as he is, if he would put money on the line in a potential fight with Topuria.
The son of a rich building magnate and the #1 seed in the lightweight division, Tsarukyan mandatory.
“I can do half a million if he beats me,” said Tsarukyan.
“If I hit him, he will give me half a million,” Tsarukyan said about Topuria.
“If he wants to make that, I'll be down. We can shake hands, fight …”
Daniel Cormier says that Arman Tsarukyan deserves the following title shot
What was initially a three-man race for the title of Topuria between Tsarukyan, Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett, just got a little bigger with Max Holloway back in the title interview after his victory over Dustin Poirier over UFC 318.
Every hunter has a different case why they should get a title fight.
Gaethje believes that he earns it after winning three of his last four fights and threatens to retire if it is not Topuria he then fights.
Paddy Pimblett could be the biggest pay-per-view draw of them all, given his heated rivalry with Topuria.
However, former two -division champion Daniel Cormier believes that the next title shot should go to Tsarukyan.
“I believe that everything taken together, merit, justified, I think it should probably be Arman,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel.
“I think Arman Tsarukyan should probably be the man who gets the title fight.
“I just don't know if the champion is willing to fight him,” said Cormier about Tsarukyan.