The UFC president has spoken about why the top lightweight contender isn’t fighting for the belt.

Arman Tsarukyan is watching Paddy Pimblett prepare to face Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title in the main event of UFC 324 without having a fight booked.

Many believed that his latest win back in November would finally see him return to the promotion’s good books.

Even UFC commentator Jon Anik has said that Tsarukyan has been ‘treated unfairly’ by seemingly being frozen out of the title picture for a significant amount of time.

Dana White has recently provided some additional context as to why he isn’t one of the two men fighting for the interim belt later this month.

Dana White says Arman Tsarukyan’s headbutt ahead of his last fight played a factor in his title shot snub

Arman Tsarukyan has said that he’ll be ready to fight at UFC 324 to prove to the promotion that he’s reliable and so that he can step in if needed.

His late-notice withdrawal from the main event of UFC 311, and the theories behind why this may have happened, have led to him falling down the pecking order at 155 pounds.

Dana White has said that Tsarukyan still needs to ‘work his way back’ despite putting on an impressive performance against Dan Hooker several months ago.

The UFC president was asked about this again during a recent interview on the Spinnin Backfist MMA Show.

White said that he knew some fans would argue that Tsarukyan should be a part of the upcoming interim lightweight title fight before confirming that one recent instance played a part in this decision.

The Armenian’s intensity got the better of him the day before his last outing, with Tsarukyan headbutting Hooker in their final face-off, which could’ve been an issue for the promotion.

“100 percent,” White said when asked whether this contributed to him not getting a title shot. “A lot of things have factored in, you know.”

Arman Tsarukyan’s next matchup could take place against a former UFC interim champion

Arman Tsarukyan has been keeping himself busy by continuing to compete outside of the UFC.

His run of recent grappling matches, with another set to take place this weekend, have seen him take on several fighters who also made their names inside the Octagon.

Hype FC CEO Armand Martirosian recently said during an interview on Jason Takhtadjian’s YouTube channel that they’ve had talks with Dustin Poirier about potentially facing Tsarukyan.

He added that ‘The Diamond’, who retired from fighting last year, hasn’t signed the contract yet but there was a discussion taking place.