UFC lightweight star Arman Tsarukyan recently found himself in the spotlight for unfortunate reasons. Last week, he was forced to withdraw from the UFC 311 main event against Islam Makhachev in what was the fight of his life. After all, one does not get to challenge for the undisputed UFC gold every day. A back injury occurred, which many speculate stemmed from an intense exercise session with MMA media personality Nina Marie Danielle during a media obligation. During the session, ‘Ahalkalakets’ demonstrated some intense wrestling and stretching drills, which appeared to strain his backbone and neck.

Within the week, his health began to decline, leading to his withdrawal from the fight. This sparked criticism, with some fans accusing Arman Tsarukyan of being too clever during the interview. However, in a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani’s show, Tsarukyan cleared the air regarding both the injury and his interaction with Nina Marie Danielle. He explained, “No, that thing I’m doing every day as part of my warm-up, so if I had a problem during training camp, how could I do this exercise? You know, I didn’t feel anything; I was good and ready. I was training very hard, and during the week, I had good energy and no problems. It just happened, you know.”

The Armenian also pointed to weight cutting and dehydration as factors contributing to the injury and back pain. He added, “When I started cutting weight, it’s because of dehydration. How do you say it? Dehydrated—maybe because of that, it happened as well.” the #1 ranked 155fer concluded.

Whether the injury occurred during his session with Danielle or elsewhere, it’s clear that Arman Tsarukyan has lost his chance at a title shot. Now, he must face another opponent to get back on track for a potential fight with Islam Makhachev for the lightweight belt. Dana White addressed the situation at the post-fight presser, telling the media, “He’s going back to the drawing board. I don’t want anybody to fight hurt, ever. We’ve been in these positions before. You miss opportunities sometimes, and he did. We’ll see how this plays out for him next year.”

Arman Tsarukyan’s coach explains his withdrawal from UFC 311

Arman Tsarukyan’s misfortune is hard to ignore, as everything appeared to be going smoothly until just 24 hours before the fight. So, how did the “young and hungry” Armenian prospect suffer a back injury? According to ‘Ahalkalakets’s ‘coach, Marcos ‘Parrumpa’ DaMatta, a chain of unfortunate events led to the injury, almost like a domino effect. This ultimately forced the Armenian to withdraw from the highly anticipated UFC 311 headline event—a chance at a title shot that every fighter dreams of.

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, DaMatta disclosed that Tsarukyan had been battling the injury for around a week. However, as the weight cutting intensified, the issue worsened, making the pain unbearable and preventing him from standing. DaMatta explained, “His weight was going down a little bit, he was really good on weight, so that’s one of the reasons why this back pain arose because the weight was going down. And then Thursday, we went to the press conference, and after the press conference, he had to go see a doctor. He still wanted to fight and power through it.”

What’s your take on Arman Tsarukyan’s claims? Do you believe he was truthful with fans about his injury? Was Dana White’s decision to deny him an immediate title fight the right call, or should he have been granted one or two more fights to secure his shot? Share your thoughts below!