Off the back of an impressive unanimous decision victory over Damir Ismagulov, Armenian-born lightweight contender, Arman Tsarukyan has urged one-time vacant title challenger, Michael Chandler to defend his slot in the official rankings, claiming the Missouri native has severely low fight IQ to boot.
Tsarukyan, the current #8 ranked lightweight contender, returned to the winner’s enclosure back in December against Ismagulov, landing a one-sided decision victory after seeing his impressive run of five consecutive victories halted by Mateusz Gamrot in his first UFC main event last June.
For Chandler, the #5 rated challenger has yet to book his next Octagon outing, having most recently suffered a third round rear-naked choke loss to former interim 155lbs champion, Dustin Poirier at UFC 281 in November at Madison Square Garden.
Arman Tsarukyan calls for a fight with top-5 contender, Michael Chandler
Criticized alongside the likes of Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje of only sharing the Octagon with each other, rather than tackle incoming contenders and other top-15 challengers, Arman Tsarukyan has called for Chandler to defined his #5 spot, as well as criticizing his fighting ability.
“Hey @MikeChandlermMMA it’s time to defend your rankings!” Arman Tsarukyan tweeted. “Lowest fight IQ in the division against new MMA generation. I won’t see you at the top (saluting emoji).”
Hey @MikeChandlerMMA it’s time to defend your rankings! Lowest fight IQ in the division against new mma generation. I won’t see you at the top
— Arman Tsarukyan UFC (@ArmanUfc) January 27, 2023
19-3 as a professional, prior to his win over Ismagulov and his loss to Gamrot, Tsarukyan had landed back-to-back victories over Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Davi Ramos, Matt Frevola, Christos Giagos, and finished Joel Alvarez with a second round ground strikes barrage.
Prior to his submission loss against Poirier last November, Chandler, a former three-time Bellator MMA lightweight champion stopped former interim champion, Tony Ferguson with a highlight reel front kick KO in May of last year.
Making his Octagon debut back in April 2019, Tsarukyan, who has been touted as a future title challenger at 155lbs, suffered a unanimous decision loss to current division pacesetter, Islam Makhachev.