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 UFCâs 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 âAhalkalaketsâ dive into the crowd and start swinging.
And he said heâd 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 â10 Fighters Who Fâed Up Their Careerâ list for the next five years (like this guy). These days, it gets you a paid babysitter. In a new video blog detailing Tsarukyanâs UFC 308 experience in Abu Dhabi, the Lightweight contender revealed that Dana White and Co. had ⌠issued him a bodyguard?
âBecause I screw up every now and then, the UFC gave me a personal security guard,â he said. âLook at this machine. So, that I never hit any fan again. He will protect me.â
Tsarukyanâs 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 5â7â contender. He also looks like a dude whoâll stop confrontations like Tsarukyan had with Bobby Green at another UFC event, because âAhalkalaketsâ be cray-cray.
Now, we just have to wait and see whether âMakhachev vs. Tsarukyan 2â for the 155-pound title gets announced for UFC 311. Itâs 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 werenât completely subservient to UFC, thereâd 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 itâs to grease the title shot return of someone who attacked a fan in the crowd.
Indeed, if âMakhachev vs. Tsarukyan 2â doesnât get booked for UFC 311, itâll most likely be because UFC has other plans for its elaborate early 2025 schedule, which includes four events in February and five in March.
LOL Ironic