Following his victory over Rafael Fiziev at the co-main event for UFC 313, Justin Gaethje has begun to put the lightweight championship belt in his sight. Being the #3 lightweight contender and a former interim lightweight champion, Gaethje is indeed deserving of the title shot, don’t you agree? Well, it seemed like Arman Tsarukyan was not in favor of Gaethje fighting for the lightweight title. Let’s see what the #1 lightweight prospect had to say about Gaethje’s call for a title shot. 

Taking to X, the former BMF champion requested Dana White for a shot at the lightweight title. Gaethje wrote, “I won 3 out of my last 4, only losing in an exhibition fight. I have to fight for the belt. [Dana White] I am ready.” Well, the only loss that he faced in his last 4 bouts was the one against Max Holloway. That was when ‘Blessed’ dropped ‘The Highlight’ in the last second of the last round at UFC 300. Prior to that, he defeated Dustin Poirier with a head kick to claim the BMF belt. But ‘Akhalkakets’ had a different opinion. 

Tsarukyan responded to Gaethje’s call and wrote, “You barely got past #11 on short notice, and before that, you got sent to the shadow realm. If you really want to be the #1 contender and fight for the belt, you have to go through me first.” To be fair, the Armenian was also correct from his point of view. He was the #1 lightweight contender and that made him more deserving to go up against Islam Makhachev. But pulling out of a title shot at UFC 311 painted Tsarukyan in a bad light for the UFC head honcho. Now, he has to prove himself once again before getting another fight against Makhachev. And ‘The Highlight’ seemed like the perfect opponent. 

As soon as Arman Tsarukyan’s words found their way to Instagram, the fighting community swooped down to the comments section to express their thoughts. And it seemed like many disagreed with Tsarukyan. Let’s see what the fight fans had to say, shall we?

Fight fans stand against Arman Tsarukyan as he calls Justin Gaethje for a fight

Most of the fans were ready to support Justin Gaethje. One fan claimed, “Gaethje All the way.” And as per their legacy, the fans didn’t seem to consider Tsarukyan’s #1 spot in the lightweight rankings. Well, as per them, the Armenian lightweight was yet to give an impressive performance, while Gaethje extracted cheers from most of his fights. One of the fans quoted, “Arman is further back than JG.” Another fan wrote, “Arman, u haven’t done anything in the UFC. Justin is more deserving of you. Plus way more exciting. You lost to Olivera last time out.”

Some of the fans were upset with Tsarukyan disrespecting their favorite fighters. One fan weighed in on this and commented, “Man I like Arman but him disrespecting legends of the sport doesn’t help his stock in any way. Wish he’d stop.” Meanwhile, others hoped that the matchup between Gaethje and Tsarukyan actually happens. After all, they had already locked in on the winner of the bout. A fan wrote, “Honestly hope Justin knocks him out if they do fight.” 

On the other hand, a few fans pointed out the Armenian’s pullout at UFC 311 against Islam Makhachev. This act, although based on medical issues, put the main event in jeopardy. However, Gaethje had no such past. He even agreed to fight Fiziev in a rematch on short notice. And that impressed the fans. One of the comments read, “Arman blew a ppv main event justin saved them a co main by staying on the card and accepting a short notice replacement. Armans got some work to do.” Another one went like, “couldn’t make weight so he faked a back injury.” But some fans believed that Tsarukyan was right. A fan commented, “I like gaethje more than arman, but arman isn’t wrong here.” Another fan wrote, “I like Justin and am not a fan of Arman but I think he’s got a fair point.”

What are your thoughts on Tsarukyan’s words? Do you think Gaethje should win against ‘Akhalkalakets’ before getting a title shot? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.