Las Vegas, NV — Lightweight Arman Tsarukyan enters his first UFC main event this Saturday at UFC Vegas 57, and gets to live out one of his dreams in the process.
“I’m so happy to be in the main event, because it kind of was my dream, when I get in [the] UFC,” exclaimed Tsarukyan (18-2) during Wednesday’s media day, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press.
What’s more important than the main event, however, is what comes after it. Contendership, Tsarukyan believes. “When I win this fight, after this fight it’s going to be very different. Everybody’s going to talk about me. After this fight, I’m going to be a contender,” he stated.
Come Saturday, he plans to finish Poland’s Mateusz Gamrot, a former KSW double champ. “UFC likes, fans like when I finish. This fight is going to be a finish too,” Tsarukyan predicted. “I’m going to finish Gamrot. It’s going to be a good fight; after this fight, I’m going to talk a lot about my division, guys who don’t want to fight with me. And after this fight, they cannot accept a fight with me.”
Tsarukyan’s finishing ability is something that emerged more recently in his UFC run, and manifested after the Armenian had a change in mindset. “I changed my mind. Now I know, I’ve got to stop opponents, show good fights,” said Tsarukyan. “Not just run, punch, run, I don’t want to be like this, because fans and the UFC likes a show. I’ve got to knock him out this weekend. I’m going to be happy after this fight.”
When it comes to Gamrot, “he’s a good fighter, tough fighter, but he’s not on my level. I’m on a different level, and I want to show it this weekend.” That said, Tsarukyan was well aware of Gamrot ahead of the fight — they are, after all, teammates. And he was certain Gamrot would agree to the bout, when so many others did not.
“I knew that he’s not a runner, he doesn’t run from good fighters like other guys, and he doesn’t choose fights too, like me.”
American Top Team owner Dan Lambert, Tsarukyan revealed, didn’t want to see the UFC Vegas 57 main event happen. “He didn’t want to see this fight because we’re both from ATT, he said we’re both future contenders. But it is what it is, nobody wanted to fight with me.”
Tsarukyan also gave Cageside Press his prediction for the potential lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev.
“I think Islam is going to beat Charles Oliveira, because Islam has better freestyle wrestling and has good grappling. Charles I think can’t choke him or do something. Striking, Islam is doing very safe fights, he doesn’t throw crazy things. He fights very safe, that’s why Charles can’t do [it]. My opinion, Islam can [beat] him by decision, five rounds.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 57 media day appearance from Arman Tsarukyan above. The event takes place this Saturday, June 25, 2022 at the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
