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Arman Tsarukyan says Justin Gaethje is scared to fight him: ‘He’s trying to avoid me’

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1 month ago

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Arman Tsarukyan says Justin Gaethje is scared to fight him: ‘He’s trying to avoid me’

Arman Tsarukyan has a message for Justin Gaethje: I'm next.

On Saturday night, Tsarukyan scored arguably the biggest win of his career, knocking out Mauricio Ruffy in the co-main event of UFC 331 in Los Angeles. Viewed by many as a title eliminator bout, lightweight champion Justin Gaethje sat cageside for the fight, and kicking off his post-fight press conference afterward, Tsarukyan had a simple message for the champ.

“He already knows his message; he's fighting me next,†Tsarukyan told reporters.

Tsarukyan is currently on a six-fight win streak at lightweight and was supposed to challenge Islam Makhachev for the title last year, but a last-minute withdrawal from the event, plus other incidents, put Tsarukyan in the doghouse with the UFC. As such, Tsarukyan felt extra pressure to deliver on Saturday to ensure his title shot, and he believes he did just that.

“Every fight is pressure for me,†Tsarukyan said. “It's not a joke because I want to be UFC champion. Every fight for me is so important. This fight is important too, especially finish and show the great performance. When I'm going to talk to UFC, the bosses are not going to say, ‘It was a boring decision, and you want to fight for the title.' I knocked him out in the first round, and they can see the crowd, people, and my ability in the cage. …

“I've been waiting a long time,†Tsarukyan added later. “I need a title fight, and today I proved it again. This is the third time I'm fighting for the No. 1 contender, and third year. After this fight, hopefully I'm fighting for the title.â€

Tsarukyan certainly believes he will be, saying he spoke with Dana White and the UFC after the win. But whether or not he'll be fighting Gaethje is another question entirely, and one that Tsarukyan isn't sure he knows the answer to because he believes Gaethje has no interest in fighting him.

“Justin Gaethje, he never tells my name,†Tsarukyan said. “He's scared. He wanted Ruffy to knock me out. It means he's trying to avoid me, and he's going to try to call out Ilia Topuria or tell [the UFC], ‘I want $15 million for Arman Tsarukyan or I'm retired.' He's going to play around bullshit game.

“But UFC — either he's going to fight me, or he's going to give the title opportunity for the young guys. We have a lot of contenders right now.â€

Tsarukyan added that if Gaethje does opt to retire instead of fighting him, he wouldn't be upset by that; he simply wants his opportunity to become champion. And when it comes to that, he's not fussy. Tsarukyan says he'll be ready whenever the UFC wants.

“I have no injuries. So I need one-week vacation, and then I can start training again,†Tsarukyan said when asked about when he'd like to fight for the title. “Probably middle of December, end of December. If there is a big card at end of December or middle December, so I'll be ready. Right now, I can't [say] ‘I want to fight in two months, I want to fight in three months.' Whatever they tell me, I'll be there.â€

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MMA

UFC Vegas 123 ‘Moicano vs. Nolan’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Published

48 minutes ago

on

October 31, 2026

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UFC Vegas 123 ‘Moicano vs. Nolan’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Sherdog’s live
UFC Vegas 123 coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The
event is also known as
UFC Fight Night 292.

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

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Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

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Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

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Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

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Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

Round 1

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Brian Knapp scores the round:
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Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

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Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

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Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

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Brian Knapp scores the round:
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Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

Round 1

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Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

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Tudor Leonte scores the round:
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Round 3

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Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

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Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

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Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 4

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Round 5

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Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

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MMA

Ciryl Gane defended from cheater accusations by two former UFC champions: "He wasn’t going for it on purpose"

Published

13 hours ago

on

October 30, 2026

By

Ciryl Gane defended from cheater accusations by two former UFC champions: "He wasn’t going for it on purpose"
Trending:

Pros react after Alexander Volkanovski TKO's Movsar Evloev at UFC 333
Zuffa LLC

Two former UFC titleholders are coming to the defense of Ciryl Gane amid a cheater label.

Some believe that Gane has bent the rules in his favor in past fights, particularly with eye pokes and illegal strikes. “Bon Gamin†came under fire for his double eye poke foul against Tom Aspinall, who still hasn't fought since Oct. 2025 due to his injuries. Gane was also scrutinized for landing illegal elbows to the back of Alex Pereira's head in their UFC Freedom 250 fight back in June.

While some have called Gane a cheater, former rivals Dominick Cruz and TJ Dillashaw disagree with that notion. During a recent edition of the “Love & War Podcast,†Cruz said that during his fighting days, he'd take the blame himself if he was ever got poked in the eye (via MMAFighting).

“I always said if you can poke me in my f*cking eye, I'm doing something wrong,†Cruz said. “You can punch me in my head. Trying to my head is so f*cking hard, if you can poke me in the eye, that's my problem, so we agree on that and I think that's why he's not a cheater.â€

Dillashaw agreed with Cruz, saying that he thinks people have the wrong idea about Gane over his accidental fouls.

“I don't think he is [a cheater],†Dillashaw said. “It's gotten blown out of the water since the Pereira fight. Obviously, everyone's a Pereira fan and they wanted him to win and they want to call the illegal blows. He wasn't going for it on purpose and Pereira's moving his head as he's hitting those. I think Herb Dean's unfortunately catching a lot of flack as well, too.â€

Gane was promoted as the UFC heavyweight champion due to Aspinall remaining sidelined. He will put his gold at stake against Josh Hokit in the UFC 334 main event on Nov. 14 in New York City.

Do you think the cheater label towards Ciryl Gane is unfair, or have you seen enough fouls to the point where it's justified? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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MMA

Morning Report: Dominick Cruz, T.J. Dillashaw defend Ciryl Gane against ‘cheater’ accusations

Published

18 hours ago

on

October 30, 2026

By

Morning Report: Dominick Cruz, T.J. Dillashaw defend Ciryl Gane against ‘cheater’ accusations

I don’t know if we’ve collectively come down from the high of UFC 333, but we’ve got APEX action this weekend with Renato Moicano and Tom Nolan headlining UFC Vegas 123.

Moicano vs. Nolan falls into one of 2026’s matchmaking trends, that of the longtime contender vs. the streaking up and comer. When we last saw Moicano, he was snapping a two-fight losing streak with an impressive win over Chris Duncan in the UFC Vegas 115 main event; now, he defends his top 15 spot again against the rising Tom Nolan, who has won five straight fights after a stoppage loss in his UFC debut.

Can “Money” slow down “Big Train” on Saturday night?

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