Hours away from his first UFC title opportunity, Arman Tsarukyan was forced to bow out of his lightweight headliner with Islam Makhachev.
Tsarukyan ultimately withdrew from his UFC 311 headliner against the ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ citing a back injury. However, some have suggested that there may be more to the Armenian’s exit than what he’s letting on.
During an in-studio appearance on Monday’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett suggested the blame could potentially be placed on “insane weight-cutting” measures that resulted in ‘Ahalkalakets’ sustaining the unforeseen injury.
"You don't get Arman Tsarukyan having back problems if you don't have insane weight cutting."@JoshLBarnett's strong take on weight cutting in MMA
"I think weight cutting is the number one most dangerous element to the sport of MMA and the biggest legal cheating method that… pic.twitter.com/0kcndHWA5s
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 20, 2025
“You don’t get Arman Tsarukyan having back problems if you don’t have insane weight cutting,” Barnett said. “I truly believe that in doing his weight cut, he probably did hit a huge back spasm out of nowhere that completely took him by surprise. And was bad enough that, one, it was obviously going to impact his ability to cut weight, so how is he gonna make the weight class? And, two, could could be severe enough that he wouldn’t feel up to being able to compete the next day.”
“And this all comes from fighting under a ruleset that encourages you to game the system because everyone is doing it and there’s no way around it really.”
Dana White Implies Tsarukyan could have competed at UFC 311
Barnett isn’t the first person to imply that there was something a little suspicious behind Tsarukyan’s withdrawal.
During the UFC 311 post-fight press conference, CEO Dana White made it clear that he never wants to encourage a fighter to compete injured before revealing that ‘Ahalkalakets’ would have to “go back to the drawing” board if he hopes to get another crack at the 155-pound crown.
Tsarukyan has since snapped back at White during his own interview with Helwani, claiming he “couldn’t walk,” let alone compete on Saturday night in Los Angeles, but is more than willing to work his way back up the contender’s ladder if necessary.
