The UFC wanted to make sure the lightweight contender didn’t go punching anyone in Abu Dhabi, so they gave him a full-time bodyguard to follow him around.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is not taking any chances when it comes to Arman Tsarukyan doing something stupid (like this) in the lead-up to his potential UFC 311 title fight in Jan. 2025.
Tsarukyan is expected to fight Islam Makhachev on Jan. 18, 2025, in Los Angeles, Calif., for UFC’s first pay-per-view (PPV) of 2025. Nothing has been signed yet, potentially because Tsarukyan needs to get his license renewed by Nevada Athletic Commission after attacking a fan at UFC 300.
Indeed, an overzealous fan flipped Tsarukyan the bird while he was walking to the cage to face Charles Oliveira. That was enough to make “Ahalkalakets” dive into the crowd and start swinging.
And he said he’d do it again if anyone messed with him!
Back in the day, behavior like that would have you turfed out of UFC and at the top of every “10 Fighters Who F—ed Up Their Career” list for the next five years (like this guy). These days, it gets you a paid babysitter. In a new video blog detailing Tsarukyan’s UFC 308 experience in Abu Dhabi, the Lightweight contender revealed that Dana White and Co. had … issued him a bodyguard?
Arman Tsarukyan says the UFC gave him a personal security guard at #UFC308 so he doesn’t hit any fans again
YT / @ArmanUfc #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/kn3D9t240x
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) December 2, 2024
“Because I screw up every now and then, the UFC gave me a personal security guard,” he said. “Look at this machine. So, that I never hit any fan again. He will protect me.”
Tsarukyan’s bodyguard was an absolute unit of a man, exactly the kind of dude who would make idiots think twice about trying to start something with the 5’7” contender. He also looks like a dude who’ll stop confrontations like Tsarukyan had with Bobby Green at another UFC event, because “Ahalkalakets” be cray-cray.
Now, we just have to wait and see whether “Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan 2” for the 155-pound title gets announced for UFC 311. It’s a tight situation: Arman attacked that fan at UFC 300 on April 13, 2024. He was suspended nine months, which is until Jan. 13, 2025.
UFC 311 is Jan. 18, 2025.
Once again, back in the day when commissions weren’t completely subservient to UFC, there’d be a good chance the Nevada or California commissions would refuse to allow Tsarukyan to do anything related to fighting until his license was renewed on Jan. 13, 2025, putting things too soon for medicals and other administration to be completed.
These days, both commissions bend over backward to accommodate UFC plans, which is cool in a way, but a little dystopian when it’s to grease the title shot return of someone who attacked a fan in the crowd.
Indeed, if “Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan 2” doesn’t get booked for UFC 311, it’ll most likely be because UFC has other plans for its elaborate early 2025 schedule, which includes four events in February and five in March.
For more details on UFC 311 click here.