“If I lose the fight, I would kill him,” Arman Tsarukyan shockingly reveals UFC 300 judge apologized for awarding Charles Oliveira final round

Arman Tsarukyan was the only fighter from the caucus region to appear on the UFC 300 PPV. In the number one contender fight for the lightweight title, Tsarukyan edged Charles Oliveira with a split decision victory. Many felt that Tsarukyan did enough to win on all scorecards. Therefore, the split decision verdict had become controversial.

Even before he got into the octagon, Tsarukyan tried to fight a fan in the audience. Interestingly, the fan revealed no plans to sue the UFC but demanded tickets for UFC 303. Nonetheless, Tsarukyan recently revealed that Mike Bell, the judge who scored the fight for Oliveira, apologized to him through his coach. Funnily enough, Tsarukyan hilariously revealed what would’ve happened if the decision went the other way.

Definitely if I lose this fight [against Charles Oliveira], I would kill him [Judge Mike Bell] yea. He's gonna kill my career. I've been training like 10 years, nonstop… and like some judge, maybe he was watching his phone. But like, now we're good.

Arman Tsarukyan via Daniel Cormier Check-In show

Tsarukyan clarified that his career would be over if he had lost the fight. He had undergone surgeries and multiple tough weight cuts to achieve where he is now. Moreover, after his debut loss to Islam Makhachev, he went on a streak before he lost to Mateusz Gamrot in another controversial split decision. Nonetheless, now he has set himself in a position to challenge the victor of Dustin Poirier vs. Islam Makhachev, possibly later this year.

Mike Bell had created controversy when he gave a 10-8 round for Alexa Grasso at UFC Noche. That decision severely altered the result to a split draw, making a trilogy fight between Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko inevitable. Nonetheless, at UFC 300, Bell and the other judges, Adalaide Byrd and Ron McCarthy, had the fight 1-1 going into the third round. However, Bell scored in the third round 10-9 for Oliveira, while the other judges had it the other way.

Arman Tsarukyan on Charles Oliveira’s submission attempts at UFC 300

Charles Oliveira has the record for having the most finishes in UFC history. The majority of those victories came via submission. As such, opponents always trained submission defense before they fought Oliveira. Moreover, even elite fighters feared going to the ground with the Brazilian.

Nonetheless, at UFC 300, Oliveira’s submission skills did not work against Arman Tsarukyan. In the first round, he put the Armenian in a guillotine choke, but Tsarukyan somehow escaped. In the third round, Oliveira caught Tsarukyan in a D’arce choke in the waning seconds of the fight before the bell rang. Tsarukyan spoke about the submission attempts in a recent interview.

He's [Charles Oliveira] one of the best on the ground. Of course, I was expecting that he's going to try to choke me, do Kimuras, triangles, all the things, you know? And I was ready for everything. So, I was ready for Guillotines, I was ready for D'Arce chokes.

Arman Tsarukyan via UFC Unfiltered

Tsarukyan also posted videos of him training the defenses to the chokes on his social media. It was evident in the video that Tsarukyan employed submission defense training to effect his fight against Oliveira. 2024 already saw two first-time champions from their respective nations. Tsarukyan now has the chance to become the first UFC champion from Armenia. Standing against him for that would be a familiar foe in Islam Makhachev or a familiar teammate in Dustin Poirier.

In case you missed it!

• “We must not forget who is behind Islam…” Arman Tsarukyan claims Khabib Nurmagomedov as reason for not fighting for UFC title
• “Almost robbed Arman” – Charles Oliveira vs Arman Tsarukyan judges’ scorecard is going VIRAL after close UFC 300 fight

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