Arman Tsarukyan wants Michael Chandler kicked out of UFC rankings for turning down his callout

Arman Tsarukyan is not happy about Michael Chandler declining his callout for a matchup inside the octagon and the Armenian-Russian wants 'Iron' to be knocked out of the UFC rankings as a consequence.

The 26-year-old surging lightweight contender recently issued a challenge to Chandler via a tweet, stating that he considered the American to have the "lowest fight IQ" in the division.

"Hey @MikeChandlerMMA. It’s time to defend your rankings! Lowest fight IQ in the division against new MMA generation. I won’t see you at the top."

However, it seems Michael Chandler is not interested in facing Arman Tsarukyan anytime soon and recently iterated his intention to focus on getting booked against Conor McGregor instead.

This did not go down well with the No.8-ranked lightweight. Tsarukyan took to Twitter to make his displeasure known, and quote-tweeting a story about Chandler's refusal to accept his call out, he wrote:

"Kick him out of the rankings then."

He further quote-tweeted a user who opined that Chandler holds a conceited opinion of himself after beating Dan Hooker and Tony Ferguson.

Arman Tsurukyan secured a dominant unanimous decision win over Damir Ismagulov in his last fight and is now 4-1 in his last five fights. In contrast, Michael Chandler is 2-3 in his last five UFC fights and has been actively pursuing a 2023 showdown against Conor McGregor.

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Michael Chandler addresses Arman Tsarukyan's callout and emphasizes focus on Conor McGregor and TUF

Michael Chandler seems to have bigger fish to fry than Arman Tsarukyan and has made it clear that he will not let any other challenger draw his focus away.

In a recent appearance on Michael Bisping's Believe You Me podcast, the former Bellator champion addressed Tsarukyan's callout and after claiming to have not seen the 26-year-old fight, Chandler dismissed the suggestion he could fight him next.

He said:

"I didn’t respond, because I haven’t even seen him fight, not disrespecting or whatever. I know he fought [Mateusz] Gamrot... I appreciate the callout... But no thanks, man. I’m over here talking about Conor [McGregor] and TUF..."

He continued:

"It was a good callout, good for him. He was coming at me, but that’s not how you get a fight with me, dude.”

Watch the full interview below:

Chandler’s UFC tenure has been nothing short of entertaining. He has secured a 'Fight of the Night' or 'Performance of the Night' bonus in four of his last five fights and is now seemingly gunning for a TUF coaching role against Conor McGregor next.