Islam Makhachev isn’t leaving it to the judges this time around.
The UFC lightweight champion is set for the fourth defense of his title as he takes on Arman Tsarukyan in the main event of UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. This is a rematch of their April 2019 encounter that Makhachev won by unanimous decision.
That bout was Tsarukyan’s UFC debut, an opportunity he took on short notice. Despite the result, Tsarukyan was competitive throughout, and he’s earned a chance to avenge that loss by winning nine of his past 10 fights.
In an interview with close friend and teammate Daniel Cormier, Makhachev spoke about how Tsarukyan has evolved since their first fight while also clearing up what he feels are misconceptions about how it played out.
“Of course, improved, he has more experience, but same skills,” Makhachev said on ESPN. “He beat all the guys because they don’t have wrestling, but when someone has good wrestling skills, he always has trouble. With [Mateusz] Gamrot, with me, and it’s going to be again. He has good wrestling skills, but if somebody defends, they have problems.”
Besides Makhachev, Mateusz Gamrot is the lone loss on Tsarukyan’s record. The lightweight contenders battled in one of the best fights of 2022, a back-and-forth five-round affair that Gamrot edged out on the scorecards.
The loss did little to hurt Tsarukyan’s reputation as he went on to beat top contenders Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush as part of a four-fight win streak. He’s also often noted as arguably the toughest fight of Makhachev’s UFC career, a notion Makhachev dismisses, citing his epic UFC 284 main event clash with then-featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
“[Tsarukyan] was one of the hardest fights, of course, but it’s not the toughest fight because the five rounds with Volkanovski, it was crazy,” Makhachev said. “It was heart rate more than 200, it’s called, you know? But maybe I was underestimating [Tsarukyan] because he was short-notice, nobody knows him, and he don’t have a name. I never watched his fight and he did well in that fight, but I like to finish the old questions.
“When I have the fight with Volkanovski, I told everybody I have to finish the questions and finish. That’s why the second fight I will be looking for the finish and make everybody shut up.”
Makhachev took plenty of data from his first fight with Tsarukyan and he’s paid close attention to the No. 1 contender’s work as he’s climbed his way to a title shot.
In particular, he noticed moments in the Tsarukyan-Oliveira fight where “Do Bronx” had Tsarukyan in danger. Should he see those same openings, Makhachev is confident he seals the deal.
“The first fight I don’t know his background,” Makhachev said. “He defends my wrestling, he’s tough, that’s why he gave me a hard time. But now I know everything that he can do. … Charles, every round, almost finished [Tsarukyan]. Do some guillotine, do some triangle choke, everything very close, but I think I have more chance.”
