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Tsarukyan and Hooker clashed in the main event of UFC Qatar this past November. “Ahalkalakets” looked nearly flawless while submitting Hooker with an arm-triangle in the second round.
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However, Pimblett claims an amateur from his gym could look as good as Tsarukyan against Hooker. While Pimblett likes watching Hooker fight for his striking, he doesn’t think “The Hangman” knows jiu-jitsu. Pimblett also notes Hooker briefly caught Tsarukyan in a guillotine in the first round. While Tsarukyan escaped from Hooker’s guillotine, Pimblett is confident that he would put “Ahalakalakets” to sleep if he caught him in a guillotine.
Amateur Hour
“An amateur [from my gym] could look good against Dan Hooker,” Pimblett said. “Someone here who could actually do jiu-jitsu would look good against Dan Hooker. Dan Hooker doesn’t know how to do jiu-jitsu. He’s a banger. I like watching him fight. He’s a scrapper, that’s all he is. He can’t do jiu-jitsu, he’s bad at it, and he nearly guillotined [Tsarukyan]. It shows how bad Arman’s grappling is to me… If I get you in the guillotine, you go unconscious.”
The lightweight title picture has turned Tsarukyan (23-3) and Pimblett (23-3) into bitter rivals. While Tsarukyan is clearly the most deserving contender, he has been denied a title shot after disappointing the UFC by pulling out of a title challenge against Islam Makhachev last year. Tsarukyan started rallying for another shot when Ilia Topuria won the vacant title after Makhachev moved up. However, Topuria seemed interested in defending his title against Pimblett. Tsarukyan hoped to seal a title shot when he defeated Hooker. However, when Topuria recently announced a short hiatus, Tsarukyan was sidelined again. Pimblett will now face Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324 on Jan. 24 in Las Vegas.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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