Arman Tsarukyan revealed why he swung at a fan during UFC 300. The Armenian fighter was making his walk out ahead of his fight against Charles Oliveira. Suddenly, during the walkout, he stopped, swung at a fan, then continued walking towards the octagon with a grin on his face. The video went viral on social media with fans wondering what provoked the UFC fighter. Tsarukyan has now revealed what caused his reaction.
Arman Tsarukyan put up an impressive performance against Charles Oliveira. He beat the former champ at his own game with a lot of ground and pound. However, the biggest highlight of the night was not his win, but his altercation with a fan. In an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour on YouTube, he revealed what happened. Tsarukyan said,
“I don’t know how I saw that guy that’s crazy like…This time the f*ck was like here you know, like on my head. And I wanted to like grab his hand and break his finger.”
Arman Tsarukyan pointed out that he only did the action of a punch but didn’t actually land a punch on the fan. He did it to scare him and the fan did end up getting scared. Tsarukyan also mentioned that he wanted to break the fan’s fingers for showing obscene gestures. As the interview went on, the Armenian fighter discussed why he turned down a title fight.
Arman Tsarukyan on why he declined a title fight against Islam Makhachev
Immediately after UFC 300, Dana White offered Arman Tsarukyan a title shot against Islam Makhachev for UFC 302 in June. However, Tsarukyan did not accept the offer. In the post-fight press conference, White then revealed that Makhachev would be fighting Dustin Poirier. Justifying his decision, Tsarukyan stated,
“I want to be ready and I want to have a full training camp. Why if I’m the No. 1 contender, why I gotta take the risk?”
Arman Tsarukyan revealed that 7 weeks was short notice for a title fight. The Armenian had fought Islam Makhachev before, early on in his career, and lost to him. This time around, he will look to prepare well and have a full training camp to take on the champion, probably later this year.
