Arman Tsarukyan is gearing up for a shot at redemption as he prepares to face Islam Makhachev six years after their first clash. Despite acknowledging Makhachev’s brilliance as an exceptionally tricky fighter, Tsarukyan believes there are weaknesses in the lightweight champ’s game—specifically his conditioning and defense against kicks.
With a clear strategy and a chip on his shoulder, Tsarukyan is determined to expose these flaws at UFC 311. During a conversation with Kamaru Usman, Arman added to his previous remarks about having the right trick to defeat Islam and said,
“You know Islam he is so smart and well-rounded. He can strike, he can clinch, he can wrestle but he has weaknesses as well. His condition(ing) (is) not the best. I feel like my kicks are way better than him.”
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The first time Arman and Islam fought was in 2019 and it was the Armenian fighter’s debut. While he lost that fight in what was an unanimous decision, it was widely touted as the biggest challenge Islam had faced in his career.
However, since then, Islam has nearly defeated everyone with Alexander Volkanovski and Dustin Poirier being exceptions. Arman has also improved by leaps and bounds, winning 9 out of his last 10 fights. Despite grappling being his primary skill, he has managed to secure KO wins over the likes of Beneil Dariush.
However, Islam is not getting carried away with any of this and does not care much for Arman’s bold predictions.
Don’t believe Arman, Islam advises
After his win against Dustin Poirier, Islam had said that Arman was the deserving candidate for a title fight with him. However, that seems to be the most courteous the lightweight champ could be, towards the Armenian.
After Arman publicly many made claims about how he would defeat him, Islam responded cleverly by asking fans not to believe him. And to prove his point, he cited Arman’s fight against Charles Oliveira at UFC 300.
“Man, don’t believe what Arman says. Because last time he said, ‘I will finish Oliveira in 1 round’ but they (went) the entire distance and he won by a split decision. This is why, don’t believe him.”
“Don’t believe what Arman says.”
Islam Makhachev isn’t buying Arman Tsarukyan’s “secret technique” for #UFC311 and points out his past inaccuracies. pic.twitter.com/C7uXkORkLW
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) January 15, 2025
Islam isn’t wrong as Arman did struggle quite a bit against Oliveira. However, what Islam perceives as weaknesses, could very well be counted as strengths.
Arman, who was the challenger, escaped submissions multiple times and despite being on the opposite end of some impressive high-pressure offense, managed to secure a win. The fight against Islam might look eerily similar to that, so having some experience in navigating the deep end might not be the worst thing.
