Jon
Jones didn’t hesitate while picking between Arman
Tsarukyan and Ilia
Topuria.
Jones, Tsarukyan, Petr Yan and
Alexander
Volkov were all recently in attendance for an International
Boxing Association card in Moscow, Russia. Jones was asked who
would win a fight between Tsarukyan and Topuria.
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“You already know, Arman all day,” Jones replied.
Tsarukyan then joked that he would have wrestled “Bones” if the
latter had picked Topuria.
Missed Connection
Tsarukyan (23-3) should have ideally fought Topuria (17-1) when “El
Matador” moved up to lightweight. However, Tsarukyan had fallen out
of the
UFC’s favor after pulling out of a scheduled title fight
against Islam
Makhachev. Topuria went on to beat Charles
Oliveira to win the vacant lightweight title instead. While
Tsarukyan subsequently started calling for a shot against Topuria,
the Georgian-Spaniard expressed interest in fighting Paddy
Pimblett instead. However, Pimblett went on to lose an interim
title fight against Justin
Gaethje while Tsarukyan remained sidelined from the title
picture.
Topuria was a massive favorite when he put his interim title on the
line against Gaethje earlier this month at
UFC White House. However, Gaethje handed Topuria a brutal
beating, forcing his corner to throw in the towel at the end of the
fourth round. Tsarukyan believes Topuria won’t return the same
fighter after his first professional loss, which diminishes the
appeal of a potential fight between the two now.