Outside Source
Tsarukyan has been accused of unruly behavior more than once. The UFC lightweight contender faced Poullas in a wrestling match at RAF 6 last weekend. Poullas tried to slap Tsarukyan, poke his eyes, and grab his fingers, all of which are considered illegal moves. Tsarukyan eventually beat Poullas by points and landed one clean punch on the ground. The entire place erupted in absolute chaos as members of both teams flooded the mats. While security was quick to intervene, the brawl took a while to subside.
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While the UFC has accused Tsarukyan of poor discipline in the past, “Ahalkalakets” believes they won’t be unhappy about the RAF brawl. Tsarukyan argues that he maintained his calm throughout the match while Poullas repeatedly tried to provoke him. Tsarukyan believes the UFC should be happy that he refused to get beaten up by a freestyle wrestler, beat him instead, and proved the supremacy of the UFC.
‘Not My Fault’
“No, no, this is not my fault,” Tsarukyan said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “Everybody is on my side now. I was waiting six minutes, he was punching me. How long do you want me to wait?… They should be happy that a UFC fighter didn’t let somebody beat him up. UFC fighter number one went into freestyle wrestling, beat the freestyle wrestler, and showed the level of the UFC.”
Despite being the top UFC lightweight contender, Tsarukyan (23-3) has been sidelined from the title picture for over a year since pulling out of a scheduled title fight against Islam Makhachev last year. However, Tsarukyan’s unruly behavior might also played a role in his title shot snub. Tsarukyan punched a fan while walking out for his UFC 300 clash against Charles Oliveira in 2024. Tsarukyan also headbutted Dan Hooker, allegedly breaking his nose, at the weigh-ins of their UFC Qatar clash in November 2025.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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