Islam Makhachev, the former UFC lightweight champion, will square off against Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 302 to win the lightweight crown. Dustin Poirier was not Islam Makhachev’s first option for UFC 302; instead, the UFC had Makhachev meet the winner of Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 302.
At the press conference following UFC 300, Dana White announced the return of two prominent UFC fighters. Conor McGregor, the former UFC champion, will face Michael Chandler in the main event of UFC 303 pay-per-view.
He received the fight offer shortly after Arman Tsarukyan’s victory over Charles Oliveira at UFC 300. Nevertheless, he turned down the fight offer and stated that he needed more training time because he was at odds with Charles Oliveira; two months was insufficient for the title bout.
Also Read: UFC 302: Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev Reveals His Plan on How He Beats Out Dustin Poirier
Islam Makhachev Reveals That Arman Tsaukyan Turning Down The Fight Is Not A Shocker For Him
The news that Arman Tsaukyan had declined to spar with Islam Makhachev did not come as a surprise.
Tsarukyan made his cage comeback earlier this month during the main card of UFC 300. In a title eliminator, the rising lightweight faced against previous champion Charles Oliveira. Three rounds of back-and-forth action ensued in an immediate classic bout between the two.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral MMA stories via Google! Follow Us
After fifteen minutes of competition, Tsarukyan emerged victorious in a split decision. With the victory, he qualified for a championship opportunity and competed for the gold at UFC 302 in June. However, given the short notice, he chose to wait until later and turned down the title opportunity.
As per the recent post on X by Championship Rounds, Islam Makhachev shared his views regarding the decline of the offered fight; he 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.”
Islam Makhachv and Arman Tsarukyan fought in April 2019. Islam Makhachev won the fight via a unanimous decision.
