![Arman Tsarukyan makes an honest confession about the UFC title and Islam Makhachev [Image Courtesy: Getty Images]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/01/3860f-17364505190390-1920.jpg)
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Arman Tsarukyan recently voiced his thoughts about his upcoming UFC 311 rival, Islam Makhachev. Tsarykyan appreciated Makhachev's personality but refused to count him as a source of his motivation.
Tsarukyan had his last encounter at the coveted UFC 300 against the former lightweight king, Charles Oliveira. Despite suffering a few tough moments in the initial minutes, the Armenia native went on to win the fight via split decision. His escape from Oliveira's guillotine choke in the first round bore testimony to his incredibly resilient mindset during the fight.
Tsarukyan's UFC 311 rival isn't an all-new one for him. He locked horns with Makhachev at the co-main event of UFC on ESPN+ 7 in 2019. However, 'Ahalkalakets' lost the fight at the end of three rounds via a unanimous decision.
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In one of his recent interviews with TNT Sports, Tsarukyan labeled Makhachev a "humble" man in his personal life. An X post from @Home_of_Fight also showcased the interviewer questioning Tsarukyan whether he had any special motivation to fight Makhachev. Tsarukyan mentioned that the dream of being a UFC champion is his ultimate motivation:
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"The belt [UFC lightweight championship] motivates me. Not him [Makhachev]."
Arman Tsarukyan gave an interesting take on Islam Makhachev's in-octagon skills
Arman Tsarukyan's initial encounter against Islam Makhachev may have ended in a defeat for him, but the Armenian-Russian learned quite a few lessons from it. After his victory against Charles Oliveira at UFC 300, Tsarukyan also mentioned that he accepted the fight on short notice and showcased confidence towards getting his hand raised in a rematch.
After the successful scheduling of the same for UFC 311, Tsarukyan caught up with the ESPN MMA reporter, Brett Okamoto, for an interview. In it, he mentioned that "people" overestimate Makhachev's wrestling skills:
"He's [Makhachev] not as good as people think... I mean, people think he's unbeatable, crazy wrestling. But I took him down when I was 22 years old [in the first fight]."
Check out Arman Tsarukyan's comments below (4:47):
