If I had to give a percentage, I would say that Arman Tsarukyan is 77% instigator at this point, and 23% fighter. If he were a major gambler, you’d see him sitting next to Dana White’s baccarat table in Vegas, perhaps alongside other luminaries like Adin Ross and SteveWillDoit, throwing around six-figure bets as he nods on Instagram.
As it stands, the people prefer iron. Or occupy the platform. Or head-butt them. It just depends on the guy’s mind (and the battery life of his camera). As long as there is contention — or at least contentment — “everything is content.”
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Knowing that they don’t actually We think his fight with Dillon Danes, the sport’s toughest fight challenger, will go without incident, don’t we? At the press conference held by the RAF 14 journalists, all that was done was for the Danes to stand and show off their coat of arms to fly the Tsarukyan.
“Says Khamzat my b***,” boasted Danis. “And he has a picture with him without a beard.” It should be noted that the Dane lasted 44 seconds against Chimaev at RAF 10 in June, which perhaps makes the shirt ironic.
The next thing he knew though, Tsarukyan – who is Khamzat’s friend and training partner – was on the sidelines for the bench, throwing punches across the small republic of RAF men, hoping he could slip away and shave his chin. A little pandemonium ensued, perhaps a solid five in the weight of none-to-Khabib Nurmagomedov claws-the-Danish-off-the-Octagon at UFC 229.
Attacks, especially uncontrolled ones, make for perfect content, and that content immediately went viral. The clip went out everywhere, which is the perfect build-up for tonight’s RAF 14 main event in Las Vegas. It is doubtful that Danis will answer for Tsarukyan on the mats (which he never really does), but there is a chance that further events will follow. For the pledge feels close.
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This is Tsarukyan’s experience; less about the struggle, more about what happens around it.
For this reason, Dana White Tsarukyan has a special canine character, due to his extreme seriousness, sense of privilege and general unruly attitude. He loves the RAF for the same reasons. In fact, you wonder if the RAF stands for Real Arman Fanatics, they give it a free ride.
RAF, the wrestling league in which Tsarukyan has already competed eight times, loves when Arman is there to act. The moment the people of the RAF began to pay real attention, the moment Tsarukyan was pushed and George Poullas knocked on the RAF 6 after the bell, a sequence that can only be considered “extracurricular”. It went viral too. MMA websites did some heavy traffic over the weekend, and the rematch happened just 15 minutes later.
(Mostly uneventful).
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However, as UFC 333 takes place in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, it is Arman who steals the spotlight on Friday. Because he is no. 1 is a light litigator, a pegma in place of caring for his deeds. And there is a double element to Tsarukyan’s knocking at the Danes because of the T-shirt scandal. He was on his best behavior against Mauricio Ruffy punching his ticket as Justin Gaethje’s next challenger at UFC 331 last month, a changed man, but this is the latest thing they call “recidivism” in the Clark County courts.
Arman has not changed!
He is who he is and will be as long as social media exists. This is the shtick that works for him, and you can only hope that Dana — who runs a laughable joke called PowerSlap for his part in the click game — sees the ambitions at play. Working with a freelancer isn’t all bad when the idea is to pay attention to what you’re capable of.
It wasn’t that long ago that Arman knocked out some dudes to beat Carlos Oliveira at UFC 300. He just unloaded a heavy mouth fan on his walk, so that the other five fighters could get someone high. Nothing much came of the punishment, but it was the first sign of Tsarukyan’s characteristic impudence.
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It feels like it’s been a million times since. Take the vagrant… him kicking an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia because he refused to follow safety rules… Urijah Faber of the RAF armed him with a lift off the platform once there two days later… him head-butting Dan Hooker during a faceoff in Qatar, who finally promised him a title shot… a brawl at RAF 6 after Poulas… and this at RAF 6 after Poulas… a brawl.
Clubbing Dillon Danes in Vegas.
Dillon Daneswho incites fights by walking into the room in cartoon sneakers. Danes, who is certainly banned from the UFC. That cheap fighting game was horrifying. If Danish was a liquid, it would be hooch. Mad dog 20/20. It came in a paper bag. Dillon Danis, who knows that meatheaded answers can be expected because he is the valedictorian of meats, and yet Tsarukyan played like a puppet.
Or did Tsarukyan himself. No one really counts unless we’re specifically talking about clicks.