At UFC 311, Arman Tsarukyan had one shot, one opportunity to seize everything he ever wanted, but did he capture it or just let it slip? As you probably know the Armenian #1 ranked lightweight very much let it slip by pulling out of his UFC 311 title clash with champion Islam Makhachev in January.
A pretty late pull-out, Tsarukyan pulled out just a couple of days from the January 18 clash. But Dana White’s reaction to ‘Akhalkalakets’ pull out has raised many questions, one of which fellow lightweight star Paddy Pimblett brought up in an interview with Jon Anik.
“I couldn’t believe it, no. I thought it was crazy. Like what’s going on here? And I don’t want to bad mouth him but the way that Dana spoke about it in his press conference after it, it was like, it was his decision to pull out. The doctor didn’t say ‘Oh you can’t fight.’ That’s bad. I think he mentioned Heather as well, who’s one of the best sports physiotherapists in the PI, said she never told him to pull out, either. I felt a bit bad for him,” Paddy ‘The Baddy’ said in the ESPN MMA interview.
However, ‘The Baddy’ did say that he thinks ‘Akhalkalakets’ deserves to fight for the title next, given his run defeating top lightweights like Beneil Dariush and Charles Oliveira. The Scouser even took a dig at ‘hand sanitizer boy’ Ilia Topuria, saying the Armenian fighter deserves to fight for the title more than the Georgian featherweight champion.
Tsarukyan claimed that he suffered from a pinched nerve in his back, which, according to his coach, Marcos DaMatta, caused him to be temporarily paralyzed. “We started the weight cut and then a few sessions in, he couldn’t do it anymore… Unfortunately, he made the decision that it was wise not to fight because he couldn’t even stand, he couldn’t even sit up – you know he had to be staying on the bed,” DaMatta told reporters shortly after Tsarukyan’s withdrawal.
Credits: Imago
Dana White, however, seemed pretty upset, which was a bit surprising. The UFC CEO is usually pretty understanding of fighters forced to pull out due to injuries. “He’s going back to the drawing board. I don’t want anybody to fight hurt, ever. We’ve been in these positions before… You miss opportunities sometimes, and he did. We’ll see how this plays out for him next year,” White told reporters at the post-UFC 310 presser.
Not only did he rule out an immediate title shot for Tsarukyan, but relegated his title shot to next year, despite there being not many contenders in the division. This is why many are suspicious that there was something more going on with ‘Ahalkalakets’ UFC 311 withdrawal than meets the eye. And UFC commentator Joe Rogan has a theory.
Joe Rogan suspects weight cut issues behind Arman Tsarukyan’s UFC 311 pullout
As Paddy Pimblett pointed out, many feel that Dana White suspects Arman Tsarukyan was the one who made the decision to pull out instead of the UFC doctor declaring him unable to fight. The going theory is that the weight cut had something to do with Tsarukyan’s withdrawal and that is why the UFC CEO seems so miffed at the Armenian.
“There’s this guy, Arman Tsarukyan, who was supposed to be fighting Islam Makachev for the world lightweight UFC title. But he hurt his back literally like the day before the weigh-ins. It’s probably because of the severe weight cut. He cuts a lot of weight. He’s very muscular,” Rogan told Canadian academic Gad Saad on episode #2263 of the JRE podcast.
Now Tsarukyan will have to fight at least one other top contender to hopefully earn another title shot. A rematch with Charles Oliveira could be next since Makhachev has made it clear that he doesn’t really want to fight ‘Do Bronx’. Or, if the Brazilian does get a title shot next, Arman Tsarukyan could face Justin Gaethje or Ilia Topuria and hope he doesn’t lose. Otherwise, it could be a very long and arduous road back to a title shot for Tasrukyan in the stacked lightweight division. What do you think about Paddy Pimblett’s thoughts on Arman Tsarukyan’s UFC 311 pullout?
The post Paddy Pimblett Claims UFC Doc Never Asked Arman Tsarukyan to Pull Out Of Islam Makhachev UFC 311 Fight Despite Injury appeared first on EssentiallySports.