Arman Tsarukyan: I Would Have Hit Dustin Poirier for Calling Me a 'Motherf---er'

Arman Tsarukyan says if Dustin Poirier called him a motherf***er, his hand "definitely would've reached the target" 😳

"I need to react. To say that we are from a different culture and such things should not be told to us.

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It's good for Islam that he is not a very… pic.twitter.com/KS8fKWq9ew

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) June 1, 2024

Arman Tsarukyan is admittedly not as tolerant as Islam Makhachev.

Makhachev defends his strap against Dustin Poirier in the main event at UFC 302 on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. During their pre-fight face off, “The Diamond” called Makhachev a “motherfuc*er,” evidently irking the champion. The Dagestani sternly asked Poirier to avoid using that term but refrained from getting physical with the Louisiana native.

Tsarukyan recently weighed in on the incident, claiming he would have reacted differently than Makhachev. “Ahalkalakets” indicated that most other Muslim fighters — himself included — wouldn’t have been able to keep their hands off Poirier for using the profanity that “The Diamond” did against Makhachev. However, Tsarukyan commended Makhachev for keeping his calm instead of jeopardizing the title fight.

“I need to react. To say that we are from a different culture and such things should not be told to us. It is good for Islam that he is not a very quick-tempered person,” Tsarukyan told Ushatayka (translation via Championship Rounds) “If it was me or someone else, our hand would definitely have reached the target. Well, he of course he made the right decision that he didn’t touch him since he has a very important fight and that’s the way it should be.”

Tsarukyan was originally offered the UFC 302 title shot against Makhachev after beating former champ Charles Oliveira via split decision in a title eliminator at UFC 300 last month. However, the Armenian-Russian, who lost to Makhachev on his short notice UFC debut, turned down the rematch due to the quick turnaround.