If you look at the UFC top 15 rankings, the 5th through 15th spots, as a rule, are occupied by either very bright veterans (Conor McGregor, Rafael dos Anjos, Tony Ferguson) or very strong prospects. , similar to each other in terms of ambition and competence. The fight between Arman Tsarukyan (18-2) and Mateusz Gamrot (20-1) in the main event of the next UFC is a clash of two freight trains loaded with both ability and the desire to fight for the belt. .
Gamrot is 31 years old, in 21 fights he has only one defeat by a very controversial decision in a duel against Guram Kutateladze. Tsarukyan is 25 years old. In 18 fights, he lost twice. Being very young, grabbed a hard knockout. And for the second time he agreed to replace and fight with Islam Makhachev. At that time, Tsarukyan was 22, and it took Makhachev all three rounds and the judges’ decision to win.
– Did you imagine yourself in the main fight of the UFC a few years ago?
– When I thought of the UFC, I didn’t think it would be possible to get into the top 15 and fight in the main event. When I signed the contract, the objective was already there to go up to the top and fight in the main fight of the evening.
– You are renting a house in the USA, get ready in good rooms. In terms of image, did you imagine something like this in 2019?
– At the image level – no, I did not imagine.
– For 5.5 years, only eight people have challenged the UFC title in your weight. Some have done it twice. That is, it is clear that you must be a very popular and popular fighter to get such an opportunity. Are you planning on getting a title fight?
“I have an important fight on Saturday. I think if I get it right they’ll give me one of five. If I get it I can get the title.
– Do you think that now in the UFC, the early cessation of fights is more valued, do you understand what is expected of you on this subject?
“I don’t really like it, because you have to keep in your head, ‘Oh, I have to finish.’ And the finish doesn’t come when you keep it in mind, it happens automatically. But when you win early , they talk about you differently. You win by decision – well, it looks like you won and won.
You are very confident in your confidence. And it happens that you doubt something, like before an exam: did the camp go well enough or suddenly the opponent will not fall suddenly?
“Doubts always arise. You drive them away, replay everything you’ve done in your head and drive them away from you. It happens that a hard workout is over, you have a bad part, but you should not be burdened because of this, you just need to understand your mistakes and correct them.
What is considered a wrong turn?
– Let’s say you are attacked and you leave incorrectly, you just left along the return line and that’s it. And failed because of it: one, two, three. Didn’t move successfully, missed again. The main thing is to understand that there was a mistake in this and grow at the expense of it.
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In another interview with , Tsarukyan said he came from a wealthy family that didn’t always support MMA. The athlete’s father has a business in Khabarovsk, and Arman could do without fighting. Tsarukyan even worked in his father’s business for a while, but it was too hard without sports. In his second professional fight, Tsarukyan fought in a large arena in Khabarovsk (the family moved to the Far East from the Georgian town of Akhalkalaki), where he lived most of his life. Almost all relatives and friends showed up, but the 19-year-old fighter lost by knockout in the 30th second. To correct the defect, I had to stay in MMA, and exactly a year later Arman closed the loss. In 2018 there was an S-70 tournament in Sochi and a photo with the president; in 2019, Tsarukyan was offered to replace him in a fight with Islam Makhachev. The fight guaranteed a contract with the UFC and an almost guaranteed loss. Tsarukyan looked very good, and now the question about Makhachev is in the headlines for 50% of interviews.
– Your trainer from Krasnodar cannot get a visa to the United States due to his work in law enforcement. Does he watch your workouts remotely?
— Yes, I record training sessions for him and I send him to Russia. He is watching.
– In the first fights, you were advised by a Russian nutritionist Alexander Ladygin, who helped Marif Piraev lead 23 kg in 7 weeks. You and him seemed to have comfortable weight races. How did you start?
– I started working with his partner, then I met Sasha. His friend is more into medicine, and Sasha is more into nutrition. When I was preparing for Islam and one more fight before they tried to work the weight went well, they started working together more.
– It’s just that Alexander is a rather young guy who reads literature and offers a lot of all sorts of non-standard methods, and in MMA they listen to such people long enough and suspiciously. Why did you start trusting?
– Some of the things he suggested, I heard them myself. Something could check with other nutritionists. First. Then I realized that everything was fine.
– How many calories a day could you eat while losing weight?
– In recent days, in very small numbers, about a thousand. And so around 1800-2000.
— My colleague Yaroslav Stepanov filmed a video with you before the fight. You said that just renting a house in the United States costs $5,000 a month. But in principle, the fights reimburse the cost of training?
– Somewhere one on one and it comes out. If the training is in America, then exactly. If you are preparing in Russia, there is a little left. I play for the Lionheart club, where I have a salary and bonuses after the fights. There are companies that I advertise. All of this provides financial support.
– In May, a very strange story appeared in an audience on VK, as if you were advertising cryptocurrency, one of the subscribers decided to buy a course on financial investments, but they did not tell him gave no lessons, although he paid money. And in the end, as he says, he was simply blocked on Instagram.
– No, there was no class in the end, because three people bought it. And those who bought, they just got their money back. We checked everything. I think this person decided to create a hype. But the money was returned to everyone, we checked by last name.
– In boxing, they sometimes call special sparring partners and pay for their work. Have you tried doing this?
– No, in MMA it is less common, here they generally help each other.
– Your opponent now feels like a very balanced MMA fighter. Is it difficult to find sparring partners for such people?
– There are a few guys. Both are good at both punching and grappling. One of them, a fortiori, can work both left-handed and right-handed. But not as explosive or as offensive as Gamroth. And one more – a pure left-hander, similar to Gamrot, presses constantly, the rhythm imposes, but quickly gets tired. Two rounds and tired. But let’s see what Gamroth itself can do. Will he be able to do five laps at my pace?
– You said that at the UFC Athlete Training Institute they managed to update the record for power on an exercise bike. Is it possible that it came from children’s hockey lessons (Tsarukyan trained in the Khabarovsk “Amur” system. – “”).
I haven’t thought of that, but maybe so. I skated a lot and my legs work very hard in hockey.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
