{"id":38867,"date":"2026-06-17T15:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T15:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Alexander-Volkanovski-Tsarukyan-hurt-himself-by-not-weighing-in-at-UFC-White-House-201554"},"modified":"2026-06-17T15:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T15:25:11","slug":"alexander-volkanovski-tsarukyan-hurt-himself-by-not-weighing-in-at-ufc-white-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/alexander-volkanovski-tsarukyan-hurt-himself-by-not-weighing-in-at-ufc-white-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexander Volkanovski: Tsarukyan hurt himself by not weighing in at UFC White House"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Alexander
\nVolkanovski<\/a> believes Arman
\nTsarukyan<\/a> didn\u2019t make a wise decision by not weighing in as the
\nbackup fighter for the main event of the
\nUFC White House<\/a> card. <\/p>\n

Tsarukyan (23-3) was officially the backup fighter for the
\nlightweight title fight between Ilia
\nTopuria<\/a> and Justin
\nGaethje<\/a> at UFC Freedom 250 last weekend at the White House.
\nHowever, Tsarukyan had previously clarified that he would only
\nweigh in as the backup fighter if he saw some serious chance of
\nsomeone pulling out. \u201cAhalkalakets\u201d eventually chose not to weigh
\nin as the backup and wrestled Tony
\nFerguson<\/a> at RAF 10 instead. Meanwhile, Diego
\nLopes<\/a>, who was already scheduled to fight Steve
\nGarcia<\/a> in a featherweight matchup at the White House, also
\nweighed in as the backup for the main event between Topuria and
\nGaethje.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Volkanovski believes Tsarukyan hurt his chances in the
\nUFC<\/a> by choosing not to weigh in as the backup. According to the
\nUFC featherweight champion, the UFC likes company men and does good
\nby them. Volkanovski cites the example of Lopes, who has stepped up
\non short notice on multiple occasions. Lopes, in turn, has been a
\npart of three historical cards: UFC 300, Noche UFC at the Sphere
\nand UFC Freedom 250. The Brazilian also received two title shots
\nagainst Volkanovski within nine months, coming up short on both
\noccasions.<\/p>\n

Better to Be a Company Man<\/h2>\n

\u201cSo, Arman not doing that I think is gonna hurt him,\u201d Volkanovski
\nsaid on the “Bussin With the Boys\u201d podcast<\/a>. \u201cThe UFC, they
\nlike to favor you if you do them a favor and be company man, they
\nwill look after you. Like Lopes, look at him. Look at the
\nopportunities that bloke\u2019s getting. He was at all of them [the big
\nevents], so they\u2019re like, \u2018We\u2019ll give him this, We\u2019ll give him
\nthat.\u2019 He got two title fights in a row. You do these things,
\nyou\u2019re exciting, and you\u2019re a company man\u2026 they\u2019ll look after
\nyou.\u201d<\/p>\n

Himself a company man, Volkanovski fought Islam
\nMakhachev<\/a> in a rematch in 2023 on 12 days\u2019 notice. Meanwhile,
\nTsarukyan is already being deprived of a lightweight title shot
\nsince pulling out of a scheduled title challenge against Islam
\nMakhachev<\/a> last year. Not weighing in as the backup at the White
\nHouse isn\u2019t likely to increase Tsarukyan\u2019s chances of getting a
\ntitle shot. <\/p>\n