”Everything That You Do Well, He Does Well”: Days After His Call-Out, UFC Veteran Warns Arman Tsarukyan to Not Go After Lightweight Champ Islam Makhachev

UFC referees and officials are the closest spectators of a fight and when they talk about the technicalities of a fight or the skills of a fighter, there is little reason to doubt their perspective. Big John or John McCarthy is a former UFC official who is considered to be a legend when it comes to UFC officials.

McCarthy is often seen sharing his opinions of fighters and matches. He recently shared his opinion on the up-and-coming UFC Lightweight fighter Arman Tsarukyan after his fight against Joaquim Silva. The UFC official mostly had good things to say about the Lightweight fighter, but also took the opportunity to warn him against the UFC Lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev.

Big John warns Arman Tsarukyan against The Lightweight Champion

UFC Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is the protégé of the former division champ, Khabib Nurmagomedov. Naturally, having trained with ‘The Eagle’, Makhachev has developed into one of the best Lightweight fighters in the current roster. He has successfully defended the title against some of the biggest names in the game, thereby establishing himself as one of the fiercest, all-around fighters in the promotion.

Arman Tsarukyan is aiming for the title shot against Islam Makhachev and the former UFC official had a few things to say to and about Tsarukyan in his recent podcast video on his YouTube channel, WEIGHING IN.

“Man, I’ll tell you what – * laughs * Tsarukyan is the real deal, there’s no doubt about it. We’ve always said that. But boy he came close in that fight to… making the mistake that could have been… [inaudible] For the most part he was winning every part of that fight, you know. He had Silva (Joaquim Silva) guessing. Silva landed that clean shot and he was hurt. You could see it in his eyes.” said McCarthy, remembering Tsarukyan’s impressive win over Joaquim Silva. 

Talking about exactly how good Tsarukyan is, Big John McCarthy said, “The kid is good. He’s fast, he’s strong. He wrestles really well.“

However, he was not carried away. Keeping things real, McCarthy warned Arman Tsarukyan of going up against Lightweight champ, Islam Makhachev and actually made a lot of good points while doing so. “He wants to fight, you know, Islam again and I look at that and I go, ‘yeah… yeah you could definitely fight with him. But sometimes it’s one of those ones where, you know, it’s… the guy in that position; the champ – bet it Islam – he’s a hard match for you because everything that you do well… he does well. And so it kind of takes… you know… takes it away and stuff.“

Arman Tsarukyan better wait for a rematch against Islam Makhachev – For his own good

Arman Tsarukyan can hold his own in the Octagon. But when going up against a fighter of immense caliber – like Islam Makhachev, doing everything you can at that point just might not be enough. This is exactly what happened when Tsarukyan fought against Makhachev at UFC Fight Night back in 2019. Makhachev won the match and now, Tsarukyan is looking for retribution.

Makhachev has only lost one match in the UFC, against Adriano Martins, back in UFC 192. Since then, Makhachev has drastically improved his game. The only fighter who came close to defeating him again is Alexander Volkanovski.

Islam Makhachev’s UFC record currently reads 24-1-0 while Arman Tsarukyan’s is 20-3-0.

Read More – “Dominant Victory Tonight Over a Legit Beast!”- Joe Rogan Hails Arman Tsarukyan

There is reason to believe that if these two fighters were to face once again, the match could be a close call. But does Tsarukyan have it in him to go above and beyond? Because that is exactly what it will take to secure a win over the Dagestani champion.

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