Arman Tsarukyan calls rival Charles Oliveira ‘one dimensional’ ahead of historic UFC 300 bout

Arman Tsarukyan analyzes the fighting style of Charles Oliveira and claims Oliveira' has only one position he is good at.

Arman Tsarukyan calls rival Charles Oliveira ‘one dimensional’ ahead of historic UFC 300 bout

Ahead of UFC 300, Arman Tsarukyan believes Charles Oliveira is a one-dimensional fighter (via Imago)

Beloved fan-favorite Charles Oliveira is returning to action at UFC 300 to face one of the toughest contenders in the lightweight division, Arman Tsarukyan. While the Armenian looked confident in fighting for the title, Oliveira was coming off a missed opportunity to fight for one. As such, this made it the perfect title eliminator. With just one month to go, Tsarukyan critiqued the former champion’s fighting style.

In a recent video posted by ‘Red Corner MMA’, Tsarukyan analyzed the weakness and strengths of his opponent, Charles Oliveira. As such, he insinuated that ‘Do Bronx’ was a one-dimensional fighter.

Charles is good at one thing – taking his opponent’s back and choking him out from that position. He has long limbs, so he’s good at taking the back, locking the triangle and finishing the submission.

Arman Tsarukyan (via YT-Red Corner MMA)
YouTube video

What Arman Tsarukyan deduced about Oliveira remained true as ‘Do Bronx’ has finished six opponents via Rear-Naked-Chokes. So, the Armenian unveiled working on the defensive mechanisms to escape if caught in back-mount. However, he was also aware not to give the position in the first place. As such, one could expect competitive back-and-forth grappling exchanges in their fight.

FS Video

Both Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan would be coming into this fight with knockout wins over Beneil Dariush. The Brazilian knocked out Dariush at UFC 289 while ‘Ahalkalakets’ knocked him out at UFC Austin last year.

Arman Tsaruyan gives props to Charles Oliveira’s striking

While Tsarukyan hinted at Oliveira being a one-dimensional fighter, earlier he gave credit to his striking. Oliveira for most of his career was a grappling specialist, winning fights via submissions. However, in recent times he acquired some knockout wins which proved he has improved his striking ability.

Arman Tsarukyan credits Charles Oliveira's striking skills
Arman Tsarukyan credits Charles Oliveira’s striking skills (via ESPN/Forbes)

In an interview in January, Tsarukyan compared Oliveira to the champion, Islam Makhachev. As such, he disclosed spotting holes and weak links in Oliveira’s game. His main criticism was that the Brazilian didn’t have enough wrestling skills. However, he applauded his improvement in striking and the heart he showed even after facing adversities in the early round. Here is what he said:

Islam is high level fighter but Charles, he has some weaknesses. His weakness, he doesn’t know freestyle wrestling… But, he has good straight punch.

Arman Tsarukyan (via Daniel Cormier)

Charles Oliveira has shown his durability in his fights with Justin Gethje, Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, and more. He tends to get hurt in the initial round and finishes the fight in the second or the third round. As such, Arman Tsarukyan reminded himself to be careful with ‘Do Bronx’ and maintain his focus for the whole course of the fight. The two elite lightweights clash heads at UFC 300 in a potential title eliminator.

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