When top lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan was passed over for the UFC 324 interim title bout, he didn’t have a lot of nice things to say about No. 5 ranked Paddy Pimblett getting the call to face No. 4 ranked Justin Gaethje.
Pimblett and Gaethje headline the UFC 324 fight card on Jan. 24 in Las Vegas with the interim 155-pound title on the line. The fight promotion opted to crown an interim champion while titleholder Ilia Topuria takes a break from fighting to deal with personal issues.
“He sucks,” Tsarukyan said about Pimblett in a November interview. “Paddy cannot beat even [Charles] Oliveira. He cannot beat even [Dan] Hooker. He cannot beat [Dustin] Poirier. He cannot beat Gaethje. He cannot beat [Max] Holloway. He cannot beat me.”
Never one to shy away from some good back-and-forth banter, Pimblett trashed Tsarukyan in an interview with ESPN Deportes’ Carlos Legaspi and discredited the Georgian’s body of work.
“Arman’s an absolute idiot,” Pimblett said. “Arman just talks a big game and he’s sh*t.”
“Arman’s made his own bed, lad. Now he can lay in it. He dug his own grave. He pulled out of a title fight the night before, punched a fan on his walkout, headbutted someone at a f*cking weigh-in,” Pimblett continued.
“He’s beat Dan Hooker. I like Dan Hooker, but he can’t grappled to save his life. He’s beat [Beneil] Dariush who looks about 60 years of age. He beat Charles Oliveira, but he never. I thought Charles Oliveira won that fight and so did a lot of people. He hasn’t done that much himself to deserve this.
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“He thinks that because his dad’s a millionaire that he can pay his way into things like this. It doesn’t work like that with the UFC. Sit down. Shut up, and do what you’re told.”
Tsarukyan was scheduled to face then-champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 but pulled out of the fight the day before the event reportedly due to injury. During his UFC 300 walkout to face Oliveira, Tsarukyan appeared to punch a fan. He was fined and suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).
At the UFC Fight Night 265 on Nov. 22, Tsarukyan headbutted his opponent, Dan Hooker, during the event’s ceremonial weigh-in.
This just got PERSONAL💥@ArmanUFC vs @DanTheHangman
[ Watch #UFCQatar on the @ESPN app | SAT | 1pmET ] pic.twitter.com/oU3eDqU0Hw
— UFC (@ufc) November 21, 2025
Whether Pimblett can beat Gaethje will be determined on Jan. 24 at T-Mobile Arena. If he wins, he’d rather face the winner of the UFC 326 “BMF” headliner between Oliveira and Holloway than Tsarkyan.
“I think it would do more for my legacy fighting Charles or Max. I love watching both of them fight,” Pimbeltt said. “Arman can just sit in line and do as he’s told. He doesn’t do as he’s told enough because he thinks his dad can pay his way out of things because he’s got a lot of money, but Arman can eat sh*t. I’m sick of hearing about him.”
