Arman Tsarukyan’s brother reveals early family struggles

Arman Tsarukyan’s family was not always wealthy. Although most fighters come from struggling families, it is often assumed that Tsarukyan (23-3) was born into wealth. Tsarukyan won a draw against Sharabutdin Magomedov in Armenia on Tuesday. While talking at the pre-fight press conference, Magomedov brought up their different upbringings. ‘Shara Bullet’ claims to have stolen aluminum as a child to afford training equipment, alluding to the fact that Tsarukyan had a comfortable childhood.

However, Tsarukyan’s brother Artur revealed that their family was not always wealthy. While Arman was born in Georgia, their family moved to Russia in search of better opportunities. Artur reveals that they couldn’t afford wrestling shoes as children. Artur also claims that they used to live in a kind of ‘ghetto’ on the outskirts of the city. The Tsarukyan brothers would be surprised to see wrestlers wearing Asics training shoes when they traveled to town. Artur believes everyone has seen their share of hardship, but he doesn’t want to show it off.

Better left unsaid

“A lot of people have no idea,” Artur told Red Corner MMA. “They think we were born in a golden cradle… We could also tell a lot about the way we used to live. But why? I think we all went through this phase of our lives when we were younger. We didn’t even have wrestling shoes. Not at all. We lived in the countryside then, in a kind of ‘ghetto’. So when we went into the city and saw wrestlers with Asics shoes, it had a ‘wow’ effect on us.”