Arman Tsarukyan had a front row seat to Khamzat Chimaev\u2019s first career loss against Sean Strickland in May at UFC 328. With a role helping the now-former middleweight champion with his camp, Tsarukyan saw the struggles Chimaev endured.<\/p>\n
Chimaev started his lone title defense in typical fashion, smothering and dominating Strickland with a heavy-pressure grappling assault. But his success in that department waned immediately; Chimaev dropped the subsequent round and battled competitively on the feet throughout the rest of the 25-minute affair. Ultimately, Strickland walked away as the winner via split decision, making him a UFC two-time titleholder.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Tsarukyan spoke on \u201cThe Ariel Helwani Show\u201d<\/a> Monday, explaining that the weight cut to 185 pounds took a serious toll on his teammate.<\/p>\n “After first round, he got tired,” Tsarukyan told Uncrowned. “Mostly because of weight cut. He could wrestle like 25 minutes nonstop [in camp], spar 25 minutes, but his body \u2014 after when he started cutting weight, that night he felt so bad, and in the morning he had no energy. We thought it was gonna be easy. But in the morning, four pounds left, his body didn’t start, so we just pushed him to cut and make weight. It was so hard. Then he said, even to me, ‘If I’m going to make this weight, I might lose.’ I said, ‘Bro, no, no. You’re gonna recover and you’re gonna be good.<\/p>\n “I wasn’t worried [that he would make weight]. At one point, when he said, ‘I cannot cut weight,’ I thought, ‘No way,’ and we started to push him, and he could make the weight. I said, ‘After weigh-ins, you’re gonna feel good. So, if you’re not gonna feel good, let me know.’ But he didn’t say anything.”<\/p>\n Plenty was made of Chimaev\u2019s rough weight cut ahead of the fight. He appeared noticeably gaunt on the scales Friday before fight night. Directly after the fight ended, Chimaev went as far as to tell UFC CEO Dana White \u2014 while still in the Octagon \u2014 that he wants to move up in weight.<\/a><\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n According to Tsarukyan, Chimaev struggled the most when he was a pound or less away from the 185-pound championship mark. Tsarukyan said he wasn\u2019t there for the absolute worst of it, when Chimaev vomited throughout the process, but confirmed that was what happened amid the cut.<\/p>\n “His body, personally, I think can’t take the hits from the sauna. Probably. Most likely,” Tsarukyan said. “He can still make the weight. Just needs to adjust a couple things to become lighter on the last day. Instead of [cutting] 15 pounds, he\u2019s gotta be 10 pounds.”<\/p>\n The loss was Chimaev\u2019s first of an otherwise dominant 16-fight career, and it\u2019s opened Chimaev up to plenty of criticism throughout the fight community, something that already ran rampant after his title win over Dricus du Plessis.<\/p>\n Tsarukyan sees it as nothing more than the ebbs and flows of MMA. When you\u2019re up, you\u2019re the best. When you\u2019re down, you suck and aren\u2019t worth a damn.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Tsarukyan believes the rebound for Chimaev will be more about some minor tweaks rather than an entire preparation overhaul.<\/p>\n “People are always gonna talk,\u201d Tsarukyan said. \u201cWhen he wins, everyone say, ‘Oh yeah, he did a good job.’ He lose, everyone is saying he’s doing the wrong things and that he overtrained. But Khamzat’s last training in the garage was like 15-20 minutes. On this level, you’re a professional \u2014 you gotta control yourself. If you feel tired, just skip the training.”<\/p>\n As for Tsarukyan, he remains the top contender in the UFC lightweight division after slicing through Dan Hooker with a second-round arm-triangle choke in November. He\u2019s been collecting win after win on the Real American Freestyle (RAF) wrestling mats ever since, competing as recently as this past Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n