Arman Tsarukyan is a Russian-Armenian MMA fighter who competes in the lightweight division of the UFC. He is one of the most dominant grapplers in the division and has amassed an impressive resume.
Tsarukyan’s nationality is Armenian and Russian. He was born in Akhalkalaki, Georgia, and is fighting out of Khabarovsk, Russia. Many people confuse him being a Dagestani because of his elite grappling skillset.
Tsarukyan made his debut in the promotion against Islam Makhachev in 2019 at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Oleynik. He went toe to toe against Makhachev and is known to be the toughest opponent in the current lightweight champion’s career.
Despite his best efforts, Tsarukyan lost the bout to Makhachev via unanimous decision. Tsarukyan rebounded with some incredible wins after his debut loss and is quickly climbing up the lightweight ladder.
How did Arman Tsarukyan vs Islam Makhachev play out?
Arman Tsarukyan faced Islam Makhachev in his UFC debut back in 2019. Although Tsarukyan lost that bout via unanimous decision, that fight is considered to be the toughest test in Makhachev’s career. Both of the fighters went toe to toe against each other and put up a very entertaining fight.
Makhachev suffered his only defeat in his pro career against Adriano Martins (via KO). However, this fight remains one of the toughest tests in Makhachev’s career, winning both of them the Fight of the Night award. Both fighters displayed their fighting skills and it was more than just a high-level grappling battle.
Just rewatched Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan and that fight was fantastic.
The wrestling was ridiculously high level. That’s a fight they got to run back in the future for sure.
— Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) September 22, 2021
Makhachev is known for dominating his opponents and controlling the majority of his bouts through his Dagestani wrestling. However, that wasn’t the case in his fight with Tsarukyan. The latter took down the former on multiple occasions throughout the fight and both of the fighters traded shots on their feet rather than just putting up a grappling contest.
Makhachev hasn’t lost a fight since his TKO loss against Adriano Martins and currently reigns as the lightweight champion after dominantly beating Charles Oliveira at UFC 280.
Both Makhachev and Tsarukyan have improved drastically since their fight. Makhachev had an incredible title run and pretty dominantly took out some of the elite lightweights including Oliveira. On the other hand, Tsarukyan is only getting better.
Arman Tsarukyan is not related to Khabib Nurmagomedov or Islam Makhachev
Tsarukyan is not connected to Dagestan. He also has no relation with Khabib Nurmagomedov or Makhachev. Instead, Tsarukyan and Makhachev are not even on friendly terms.
Before his fight against Makhachev, Tsarukyan was a newbie in the UFC as it was his debut. The Armenian-Russian was still a strong fight for the Dagestani. The paint, however, does not look eye-to-eye.
Although Tsarukyan did show respect to Makhachev and Khabib in his early days in the UFC. He claimed that Khabib has no competitor when it comes to wrestling and controlling a fight. For Makhachev, in 2021, Tsarukyan was disappointed with UFC as the Dagestani was not getting bigger fights.
Tsarukyan said, “I don’t think Moises is the kind of opponent Islam should be fighting. Tiago was just moved into the top 15. Makhachev has seven fights in a row, he should at least fight in the top 10. But everyone refuses, they make a circus of the division. If you’re in the top, you have to fight whoever they give you. We’re fighters too and want to get there.”
A year later, however, Tsarukyan ignored Makhachev when claiming who was the best in the UFC lightweight division.“I feel I am the best in this division. I’m the youngest fighter, I’m in the top 15,” Tsarukyan noted during an interview with ESPN. “Yeah, we have big names in this division, but for me, it doesn’t matter. I know I can beat everybody there, like (Dustin) Poirier or (Justin) Gaethje or Conor (McGregor).”
In June 2023, Tsarukyan called out Makhachev, then UFC Lightweight Champion. The Armenia claimed he would “smash” Makhachev.
Contrary to some beliefs, Tsarukyan has never trained with Khabib or Islam either. There does not seem to be good blood between them for them to ever train together.