Arman Tsarukyan’s decision to withdraw from his fight against Islam Makhachev earlier this year was a “100-IQ game,” according to a former UFC fighter.
For context, ‘Ahalkalakets’ was set to meet Makhachev again at UFC 311 for the lightweight championship. However, he withdrew at the eleventh hour due to a back injury, after which Renato Moicano came on as a replacement and was submitted by the Dagestani in round 1. After cementing his legacy at lightweight by defending his title four times, Makhachev moved up to welterweight and recently dethroned champion Jack Della Maddalena.
This past weekend, Tsarukyan also returned to the octagon and earned a submission victory against Dan Hooker. Following the Armenian’s win at UFC Qatar, Derek Brunson spoke to X and explained how the UFC 311 withdrawal could actually be strategic. ‘The One’ posted:
Arman Tsarukyan maybe [have] drew a 100 IQ game. Withdraw from the battle with Islam, wait for him to move up, don’t take a loss, become the man at 155 🤔👀 #UFC”
Check out Derek Brunson’s post below:
Arman Tsarukyan suffered severe back pain while cutting weight for UFC 311. He later revealed that overtraining also contributed to the injury. His eating habits and him filming a vlog with Nina-Marie Daniele were criticized by several fans as possible contributing factors to the injury.
Arman Tsarukyan wants to fight for the title early next year
After submit Dan Hooker called out UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria in round 2 of UFC Qatar headliner Arman Tsarukyan.
‘Everyone is running, especially Ilia [Topuria]. If you’re here, come on, we need to confront it. There is only one number 1 candidate: Arman Tsarukyan. Don’t make an easy fight… I’ll be ready at the end of January. Just send me the contract. I will be there.”
Check out Arman Tsarukyan’s comments below:
‘El Matador’, on the other hand, has already stated that he would give up his 155-pound throne rather than fight Tsarukyan.
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