Arman Tsarukyan says he would make the fight look "very easy" if the same Islam Makhachev from UFC 302 shows up: "If you're tired, you're done"
Arman Tsarukyan recently expressed confidence that he could make the prospective fight appear effortless if Islam Makhachev performs at the same level as he did against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302.
The reigning lightweight champion successfully defended his title against 'The Diamond' in a competitive five-round bout last weekend. Makhachev secured victory with a D'Arce choke late in the fifth round, leading Poirier to submit. Throughout the match, the Dagestani faced a determined opponent who relentlessly aimed to vie with him for the title.
Makhachev wasted no time in affirming his status as a significant favorite heading into the fight. However, he appeared vulnerable during the striking exchanges yet demonstrated dominance in the ground game, which heavily favored one side.
After his triumph over former champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 in April, 'Ahalkalakets' was presented with an opportunity to challenge the 155-pound champion. However, due to the short turnaround time to prepare for the fight on June 1, he declined the offer. Tsarukyan is now fully confident that following UFC 302, he will effortlessly dethrone Makhachev of his title in their second encounter.
During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Tsarukyan expressed his belief that, after analyzing Makhachev's performance against Poirier, he is confident in his ability to capitalize on Makhachev's cardio weaknesses:
"It would be a very easy fight for me. I could over-wrestle him the fight because he [Makhachev] got tired. When you're tired, you know, you can't do sh*t... Even if you have the best skills in the world you're done."
Check out Arman Tsarukyan's comments below:
'Ahalkalakets' and Makhachev clashed once before in April 2019. Despite Tsarukyan putting up a strong fight in his UFC debut, Makhachev proved superior and secured the victory via unanimous decision.
Eddie Alvarez firmly believes Arman Tsarukyan will defeat Islam Makhachev
During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani (via MMA Fighting), former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez conveyed a strong conviction that Arman Tsarukyan has the capability to outperform Islam Makhachev in their potential rematch.
'The Underground King' compared Makhachev with his close friend Khabib Nurmagomedov and noted that the reigning lightweight champion has a different set of challenges in front of him in comparison to 'The Eagle':
"Arman beats him [Makhachev]. I made that assumption right after the fight [UFC 302] because look at who Khabib went against. Everybody Khabib defended [his UFC title] against, he had what I call a distinct grappling advantage. The gap in the grappling advantage was so high, and he dominated these guys."
He added:
"He never had to take the risk of getting his shot stopped, not securing a takedown, not being on top, and Islam just had to deal with that for a little bit [at UFC 302], and look how bad it kind of went the other way when he couldn’t get the guy to the ground and control him."