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Tsarukyan (23-3) has trained in Dagestan in the past. According to Tsarukyan, what sets apart the training camp there is the availability of sparring partners and their work ethic. Tsarukyan explains that young fighters are ready to sacrifice a lot, as there are not many opportunities outside of sports. Tsarukyan believes Dagestani and Chechen fighters will take over the UFC if they are signed.
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“I’ve been to [Dagestan], I’ve trained there, Tsarukyan said on the “One Night Steiny” podcast. “Lots of sparring partners, lot of hard workers. They train so hard in the gym. The young generation don’t have a lot of opportunity out of the gym, so they train a lot, they sacrifice, they have good discipline, that’s why they achieve a lot. If the UFC lets fighters from Dagestan and Chechnya come here and if they sign them, we’re gonna see all Dagestani and Chechen fighters.”
While fighters from the Caucasus mountains dominate almost every major MMA promotion in the world, they often face criticism for their grappling-heavy style. As most of them are not fluent in English, it hinders their ability to promote themselves as well. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev consistently encourage Dagestani fighters to improve their English. Nurmagomedov recently condemned promotions for cutting fighters who don’t engage in antics and trash talk. Meanwhile, former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland is vehemently against the UFC roster getting filled up with fighters from the Caucasus region.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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