“He Is Not Going to Be Confident With Me” Arman Tsarukyan Sends Chilling Message to Ilia Topuria

Arman Tsarukyan may have been the backup fighter at UFC 317, but his mind was already set on Ilia Topuria.

In a recent interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Tsarukyan dismissed Topuria’s celebrated confidence, saying it would vanish the moment they share the Octagon.

“He can celebrate before the fight… but just after the fight, he’s going to cry,” Tsarukyan said.

Topuria walked into UFC 317 with swagger, celebrating his win over Charles Oliveira a day before the actual fight.

But Tsarukyan claims that confidence was only because Oliveira posed little threat.

He doesn’t believe Topuria would act the same way against him.

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Tsarukyan Says Oliveira Was a Handpicked Matchup for Ilia

Tsarukyan broke down Topuria’s UFC 317 knockout and didn’t see anything impressive.

According to him, Topuria knew he was fighting someone who couldn’t wrestle or out-strike him.

“He knew already — 99.9% — he was going to win that fight. That’s why he was super confident,” Tsarukyan explained.

In Arman’s eyes, beating Oliveira didn’t prove much.

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“I Already Trained for Him Tsarukyan Reveals Inside Info

Interestingly, Tsarukyan admitted he had already been training for Topuria, expecting Charles Oliveira might miss weight or pull out.

This means a good chunk of his camp was focused on preparing to shut down Topuria’s pressure and striking.

“I already had the training camp for him,” Arman said. “That fight showed me nothing.”

Arman Fires Back at Dana’s Comments on Weight Issues

Back in January, Tsarukyan was forced to pull out of a title shot due to a back injury.

But recently, Dana White implied it was a weight issue. Tsarukyan strongly denied that.

“I had an MRI. It was my sciatic nerve. I’ve never missed weight,” he clarified.

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Paddy Pimblett? “He Can’t Beat Topuria, Islam, or Me.”

Tsarukyan didn’t hold back when asked about the UFC’s attempts to hype Paddy Pimblett.

He described the post-fight moment between Pimblett and Topuria at UFC 317 as “WWE stuff” and said it was disappointing considering his status as the true No.1 contender.