Islam Makhachev’s in-octagon encounters bear a lot of resemblance to Khabib Nurmagomedov. Yet, his former rival, Arman Tsarukyan, recently denied his Khabib-like “unbeatable” image before UFC fans. ‘Ahalkalakets‘ recently appeared on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube podcast where he opined that he and many others could change Makhachev’s reputation of being some kind of invincible fighter.
Makhachev’s UFC record will reveal that Tsarukyan wasn’t wrong in his assessment. Although Khabib’s friend has picked up one defeat in his UFC career to date, Tsarukyan claimed that Makhachev’s first fight against Alexander Volkanovski made him look “bad.” The 27-year-old said,
“I feel like I can beat him [Islam Makhachev]. Everybody thinks like he’s unbeatable. Nobody can beat him. But, in the top level, everybody can beat him. In the Islam vs. Volkanovski fight, Islam looked bad.”
Tsarukyan may be confident about getting the better of the current UFC lightweight champ in an encounter. Yet, his record indicates that he failed to do so when the two locked horns on 20 April 2019.
Nevertheless, the Armenian claimed himself to be a much-improved fighter recently and believes he will be able to make amends for his previous performance
What can Arman Tsarukyan do to get the better of Islam Makhachev in their probable encounter?
Tsarukyan and Makhachev are pretty well-rounded fighters with commendable skills in both the striking and grappling departments of the game.
However, their strength lies in different areas. While Tsarukyan primarily depends upon his striking to get the better of his rivals, Makhachev likes to dominate his rivals after taking them to the ground.
‘Ahalkalakets’ must be extremely watchful of Makhachev’s strong clinches and avoid getting taken down. He also must look to spend most of the in-octagon time on his feet, going for a stand-and-strike-styled fight against the Dagestani. Approaching Makhachev with these things in mind may help the Armenian get revenge for his 2019 loss.
