Arman Tsarukyan issues first statement after stunning UFC 311 main-event dropout

On By Littum

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 16: Arman Tsarukyan of Georgia is seen backstage during the UFC 311 press conference at the Intuit Dome on January 16, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC)

Arman Tsarukyan is no longer the headliner at UFC 311. (Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC)

Arman Tsarukyan’s year does not start as he had planned.

In a shocking move, the UFC’s top lightweight was forced to withdraw from his UFC 311 title challenge against 155-pound champion Islam Makhachev on Friday after suffering a back injury late Thursday night. In his first comments following the news, Tsarukyan called the events of the past day “the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my fighting career.”

“I am sorry to inform everyone that the news that I had to pull out of UFC 311 with a back injury is true. This was the hardest decision I have ever had to make in my fighting career. I would like to thank you UFC for your understanding and I look forward to competing for my first UFC championship in the future. Thank you for your support.”

Tsarukyan (22-3) has long sought a rematch with Makhachev since losing a competitive decision to the then-future champion in Tsarukyan’s short-lived UFC debut in 2019. Tsarukyan has won nine of his 10 Octagon appearances since that setback, including major wins over former champion Charles Oliveira and veteran challenger Beneil Dariush to propel himself to the front of title contention, but must now step aside on what was supposed to be the threshold of his UFC moment.

As a result of Tsarukyan’s decision, Makhachev (26-1) has instead agreed to defend his title against Renato Moicano (20-5-1), who was previously scheduled to face Dariush in a fight with lightweight contenders on Saturday’s pay-per-view card. Makhachev is already listed as a -1000 favorite by BetMGM to defeat his short-lived opponent, but Moicano vowed Friday to “shock the world” at UFC 311.

It is currently unknown if Tsarukyan will get the next shot at Makhachev vs. The Moicano winner.

The chaos of Tsarukyan’s removal also left Dariush without a dance partner for UFC 311 and prompted a heavyweight bout between Jailton Almeida and Serghei Spivac to join the five-fight pay-per-view card.

UFC 311 takes place Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.