Arman Tsarukyan fights Islam Makhachev again this Saturday at UFC 311 and he knows he might have to break out some moves that have never been seen before to topple MMA’s pound-for-pound king.
During an interview on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, hosts Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman asked Tsarukyan about a secret technique that they’d heard he might employ on fight night. Tsarukyan played coy, but teased that it would catch the lightweight champion off guard.
“Ah, my new technique,” Tsarukyan said. “How can I share with you, but this is a good move. Good things and he’s going to be surprised. I’ve never done it before.”
“I train every day,” he added. “I want to find something new, to do something that I’ve never done before.”
Tsarukyan might not need to change much given his run of results since dropping a decision in his UFC debut against Makhachev in April 2019. He’s been on a tear since, winning nine of his past 10 fights and knocking off the likes of Charles Oliveira, Beneil Dariush, Damir Ismagulov, and Joel Alvarez.
It’s the incremental improvements to his game that Tsarukyan credits with helping him to evolve overall as a fighter.
“Of course, I’ve changed so much,” Tsarukyan said. “I have improved all my skills, but the best thing I feel it’s experience from the fights. When you fight, you go there, you do some mistakes during the fight and then go to the gym and work on your new skills and after each fight, I feel like I’m getting better, better, better. The best thing I from the fight I got experience.
“Especially UFC experience. When you fight the first time, you’re super excited, you’re nervous, but now I’m already used to it, for the crowd, for the people, for the media. Just now it’s like a job. Just go there and have fun and fight.”
Makhachev has been indomitable since his lone loss in 2016. He sports a 26-1 record and most recently defended his title against a spirited challenge from longtime fan favorite Dustin Poirier. When he steps into the octagon Saturday, Makhachev seeks his fourth consecutive defense of the lightweight title.
Asked to break down Makhachev’s strengths and weaknesses, Tsarukyan explained whye skill-for-skill he expects to come out on top in the rematch.
“Islam is so smart,” Tsarukyan said. “He’s so well-rounded. He can strike, he can clinch, he can wrestle, but he has weaknesses as well. His conditioning not the best. So when he fights with a wrestle guy, when it’s going to be difficult to take down someone, he’s going to waste energy. His boxing is better than his kicks. I feel my kicks are way better than his. He is so smart as well, he knows how to move, how to relax, where you’ve got to drop your gloves, he has a lot of tricky things.
“On the clinch, he has good movement. He’s ready when you move and then takes you down, when you knee him and he flips you. He’s so smart, well-rounded fighter, and I’m just going to do my best there and I know how I can beat and I’ll go there I just feel my hands, power, I just can’t wait to show everybody what is the new version of Arman Tsarukyan.”
