Tsarukyan Calls Topuria Glove Claim Excuses

Arman Tsarukyan dismissed Ilia Topuria’s accusation about Justin Gaethje’s gloves as an excuse during UFC 331 fight week. His criticism is now part of a wider exchange that includes an event regulator rejecting the allegation, Dana White backing the inspections and Tsarukyan completing his own fight against Mauricio Ruffy.

Speaking to ESPN Deportes before the September 19 card, Tsarukyan argued that a fighter should examine his own mistakes after a defeat before blaming equipment. He questioned how an irregular pair of gloves could pass inspection. The remarks concerned Topuria’s explanation of his loss to Gaethje, rather than an investigation Tsarukyan had conducted himself.

Topuria had raised the issue on social media after losing the lightweight championship to Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 in June. His corner stopped that fight before the fifth round. The former champion’s subsequent claim about the gloves prompted pushback from Gaethje, Tsarukyan and one of the officials involved in regulating the event.

The regulator’s response adds an essential fact

Andy Foster, executive director of the California State Athletic Commission and one of three regulators at UFC Freedom 250, told USA TODAY Sports that Gaethje’s gloves and wraps complied with the rules. He also said multiple inspectors had checked them.

That response is more directly relevant to the equipment allegation than another fighter’s opinion. Tsarukyan can criticize how Topuria handled the loss, but Foster was speaking about the inspection process at the event. His statement contradicts the suggestion that Gaethje fought with an improper object or irregular equipment.

UFC CEO Dana White backed that position after UFC 331. At the post-fight press conference, he pointed to the officials who watched Gaethje’s hands being wrapped and his gloves being put on, and rejected the suggestion of wrongdoing. His response brought the promotion’s public position into line with Foster’s account of the inspections.

Gaethje also rejected Topuria’s claim. His response, like Tsarukyan’s, belongs to the public dispute; it is not a separate technical examination. The account of the controversy therefore needs both elements: the fighters’ comments and the regulator’s assurance about what was inspected.

The sequence is straightforward:

• Gaethje won the June title fight after Topuria’s corner ended the contest before the final round.
• Topuria later suggested that something improper had been placed in Gaethje’s gloves.
• Tsarukyan criticized that explanation during UFC 331 fight week, while Foster said the inspected gloves and wraps were within the rules.

There is no basis in those statements to present glove tampering as an established cause of Topuria’s defeat. Foster’s response carries particular weight because he was involved in overseeing the event. He did not describe a missed inspection or concede an equipment problem; he defended the checks that took place.

Tsarukyan has now completed his UFC 331 assignment

The competitive context has changed since Tsarukyan gave the interview. He is no longer preparing to face Ruffy: he knocked him out with elbows at 4:56 of the first round in the UFC 331 co-main event in Los Angeles.

Ruffy landed a sharp right hand early and defended Tsarukyan’s takedown attempts. With the pair working against the fence near the end of the round, Tsarukyan landed the elbows that finished the fight. It was his sixth consecutive victory, strengthening his position among the lightweight contenders.

The win gives Tsarukyan a stronger sporting argument for a title opportunity, but it does not turn his remarks about Topuria into a ruling on the gloves. These are separate parts of the same division’s news: a completed contender bout and a dispute over the explanation for an earlier championship result.

Talk of a Gaethje-Topuria rematch has added attention to that dispute. Jon Anik said during fight week that there had been internal discussion of a second meeting. Discussion is not a signed matchup, and neither that comment nor Tsarukyan’s victory establishes the identity or date of Gaethje’s next challenger.

Tsarukyan’s underlying criticism was about accountability. He wanted Topuria to begin with what went wrong in the fight instead of looking to the gloves for an explanation. Readers can disagree with that opinion while still keeping the factual record clear: Gaethje won, Topuria made the allegation, Foster defended the inspections and Tsarukyan has since won his own UFC 331 bout.