LAS VEGAS – It looks like Arman Tsarukyan is not out of the doghouse just yet.

Tsarukyan, who’s been having a rocky relationship with the UFC in recent months, seems to still not fall on the promotion’s good side. UFC CEO Dana White was asked about Tsarukyan and his potential return to the cage, to which White replied with an uninspiring answer.

“I’m not thrilled with Arman right now, and there’s a lot of different reasons,” White told reporters at the UFC 326 post-fight press conference on Saturday night. “It’s not just the stuff that you see publicly.”

Tsarukyan was recently headline of controversy. In a wrestling match against influencer and wrestler Georgio Poullas at RAF 06, things heated up between the two and the match ended with Tsarukyan punching and kneeing Poullas, sparking a big brawl on stage.

White has no issue with UFC talent crossing over to compete at RAF – even with this latest circumstance. He puts the blame on Tsarukyan, not the wrestling promotion.

“No, no. Listen, there’s plenty of guys that wrestle that have been respectful with other guys they wrestle,” White said. “I understand there was some back and forth with both of those guys, but where tthere’s smoke, there’s fire. Arman has been smoking a lot lately.”

The UFC-Tsarukyan relationship was put under the magnifying glass earlier this year. Despite being the No. 1 contender on the UFC official lightweight rankings, Tsarukyan was skipped over and not given a chance to fight for the UFC interim lightweight title at UFC 324 in January. Instead, Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett, who are ranked below him, were given the chance to compete for the interim belt while champion Ilia Topuria dealt with personal matters.

White said one of the reasons Tsarukyan didn’t get his chance was due to the headbutt he hit Dan Hooker with during their last faceoff in their December fight. Tsarukyan also infamously pulled out of a championship fight against Islam Makhachev in January 2025 the day before the event. Tsarukyan claims it was due to injury, while White has said he wasn’t going to make weight.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dana White: ‘I’m not thrilled’ with Arman Tsarukyan