Arman Tsarukyan’s big opportunity nearly blew up in his face at the first possible moment.
The Georgian talent was still in the feeling out process when his high kick went awry. Charles Oliveira cut kicked him, blasting out his base leg and taking top position when Tsarukyan tried to wrestle up to his feet. “Do Bronx” was on his neck immediately, and he jumped guard in the exact same manner that he finished Glay Guida, Myles Jury, and Nik Lentz many years ago.
It’s one of his best moves, and it sent Tsarukyan into desperation mode. He rolled to his back and framed desperately at the hips, battling for every millimeter of space. He gave up mount and nearly lost his pants in the process, but he survived … only to have Oliveira in mount a minute into the fight!
Again, a lot of Lightweights lose in that same position. Justin Gaethje lasted about 15 seconds with Oliveira in a dominant position before tapping out to a strangle. Tsarukyan, however, remained calm despite the obvious danger, managing to buck his way into top position midway through the round.
He still had to deal with the gnarly guard work of “Do Bronx.”
All in all, the first five minutes was a great defensive display from Tsarukyan, even if that wasn’t his intention. In the second, however, he managed to shift the narrative of the fight back into his favor. An authoritative takedown — his first of the fight — landed Tsarukyan in the guard, and he was able to slowly break through the layers of Oliveira’s guard work. By the end of the second, he tore Oliveira up with elbows, turning the Brazilian’s blonde hair red.
It all came down to the third, and both were fatigued. To get cliche for a moment, this is the stuff champions are made of! Tsarukyan fought well, sticking jabs and keeping his feet moving until the takedown opportunity materialized. Even tired, Tsarukyan’s blast double is a thing of beauty! He was forced to fend off one last Hail Mary submission from Oliveira, but Tsarukyan won a large majority of the third.
He deserved the win.
This victory showed off many of the great assets of Tsarukyan: a rounded skill set, intense athleticism, stellar wrestling, and underrated survivability. More importantly, it separates him from the Lightweight pack of would-be up-and-coming contenders, most of whom have suffered rough losses when put in similar positions.
Rafael Fiziev vs. Justin Gaethje, Mateusz Gamrot vs. Beneil Dariush, Benoit Saint-Denis vs. Dustin Poirier — multiple times in the last couple years we’ve seen the next generation fail to replace the previous contenders. They all tasted defeat because they lacked (at least) one of the attributes mentioned above!
Realistically, Tsarukyan would be running a 10-fight win streak if the judges properly scored his bout against Gamrot. Even with that caveat, his current four-fight win streak is excellent, and dispatching Charles Oliveira — even by split-decision — is a monumental feather in his cap.
At 27 years of age, Tsarukyan is ready for a title shot. Give it to him!
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