Dana White Announcing Arman Tsarukyan as Backup Fighter Brushed Aside by Ilia Topuria

Ilia Topuria dismissed Dana White announcing Arman Tsarukyan as the backup fighter for his upcoming lightweight title fight.

Dana White Announcing Arman Tsarukyan as Backup Fighter Brushed Aside by Ilia Topuria

Ilia Topuria dismissed Dana White's announcement of Arman Tsarukyan as the backup [via BBC, UFC.com and Cageside Press]

In Short
  • Ilia Topuria will defend his UFC lightweight title against Justin Gaethje at the White House in June.
  • Arman Tsarukyan has been named the backup fighter for the title fight, following his withdrawal from UFC 311.
  • Topuria dismissed concerns about Tsarukyan, stating he is focused solely on his upcoming fight and the outcome will be the same regardless of his opponent.

Ilia Topuria is set to defend his UFC lightweight title against Justin Gaethje at the White House in June. Dana White just revealed that Arman Tsarukyan was the backup fighter for the upcoming title fight. This sparked an interesting reaction from Topuria once he was made aware of this.

Arman Tsarukyan has been in lightweight limbo ever since pulling out of his fight against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311. The Armenian was frozen out of the lightweight title picture by getting snubbed for a title opportunity. The closest he has gotten to the lightweight title since January 2025 has been as the backup fighter for the interim title fight between Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gaethje.

Recently, he was declared as the backup fighter for the title fight at UFC Freedom 250. Busy with promoting the White House card, Ilia Topuria was extremely dismissive of his rival when asked about it. ‘El Matador’ said he was only concerned with defending his title at the White House regardless of who stood in front of him.

It absolutely doesn’t matter to me. The only thing that’s important to me is that everything goes smoothly. No matter what, I’ll be in that cage. Whether they put Justin, Arman, or you in front of me, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be there, and the outcome will be the same for everyone.

Ilia Topuria via Carlos Contreras Legaspi

Topuria and Tsarukyan have been going back and forth a lot of late. The Armenian lightweight even threw shade on the lightweight champion by accusing him of botting his Instagram follower count. Before that, Ilia Topuria had appeared on the Ariel Helwani Show to troll Tsarukyan over his social media antics.

The lightweight champion also pushed back against the feud with Arman Tsarukyan being personal. Topuria insisted that he does not take the Armenian lightweight seriously. Topuria even went as far as to say he’d have to be “stupid” to take his feud with Arman personally.

Nonetheless, it is evident that his focus is on the task at hand — Justin Gaethje at the White House. The UFC double champion actually revealed that he had big plans before his title defense at UFC Freedom 250.

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Ilia Topuria plans a massive celebration before his title fight against Justin Gaethje

Ilia Topuria has absolute confidence in his abilities. Though some have viewed it as arrogance, his demeanor and behavior have earned him many supporters. Before UFC 317, the Georgian-Spanish star predicted his first-round knockout over Charles Oliveira.

Justin Gaethje vs. Ilia Topuria
Justin Gaethje vs. Ilia Topuria (via X)

He was so confident in this prediction that he threw a celebration for his win at UFC 317 before the event even happened. Now, ahead of the White House card, Topuria has similar plans. This time around, even though ‘El Matador’ revealed that he was wary of Justin Gaethje and his “weird” style, the champion still plans to celebrate the night before the fight.

We are going to celebrate before the fight. Actually, we have everything organized. My team is already taking care of that.

Ilia Topuria via ESPN

This celebration will supposedly be larger than the one he had after the Oliveira fight last June. The UFC lightweight champion even updated his bio to 18-0 in anticipation of a successful title defense. He did the same thing before he won the lightweight title at UFC 317.

Ilia Topuria has expressed confidence in yet another first-round knockout over ‘The Highlight’. To that end, he recently trained with Alex Pereira in New York. Their visit to the White House saw Donald Trump praise the pair of double champions and their accomplishments. Topuria later joined Team Pereira at Plinio Cruz’s gym.

It seems Ilia Topuria is leaving no stone unturned in preparing for his upcoming title defense, be it against Justin Gaethje or Arman Tsarukyan.

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