UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan literally kicked one among his coaches out of the cage in a scary accident.
Arman Tsarukyan appears to be back within the UFC’s good graces after a short-notice withdrawal from UFC 311 in January. After pulling out of the UFC 311 fundamental event with a back injury, Tsarukyan was the backup fighter at UFC 317, and will serve the identical role at UFC 318.
Tsarukyan will likely need to win a minimum of yet another fight before earning one other title shot. Potential matchups with the likes of Paddy Pimblett, Dan Hooker, and Justin Gaethje are in the combination for Tsarukyan’s next fight.
But disaster nearly struck in Tsarukyan’s training camp during a routine pad session.
Arman Tsarukyan sends coach flying out of the cage in wild training accident
Tsarukyan and one among his coaches were getting some work in as the highest lightweight prepares for his return to the Octagon. Things were routine at first as Tsarukyan threw several different techniques as his coach held pads.
But an enormous problem surfaced, as Tsarukyan and his coach forgot to lock the cage door closed before they kicked off their session. After Tsarukyan landed a kick to his coach’s mid-section, his coach went flying through the unlocked cage door, landing flat on his back on the bottom below.
Tsarukyan shared footage of the incident in a recent Instagram post, together with a humorous caption.
“Can anyone please keep the cage closed,” Tsarukyan commented.
Luckily, it seems that Tsarukyan’s coach wasn’t seriously injured within the accident. Had he not been wearing protective padding while working with Tsarukyan, it could’ve been a worse incident.
Tsarukyan has been working alongside UFC middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev and others in California ahead of their returns to the cage. Chimaev will return to the Octagon next month at UFC 319 to challenge UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis in Chicago.
Tensions are constructing between Arman Tsarukyan and Ilia Topuria
Within the meantime, Tsarukyan has bad blood brewing with UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria, because the two have exchanged barbs online in recent days. After Tsarukyan promised to ‘maul’ Topuria in a possible fight, Topuria called Tsarukyan a ‘total jerk’ and mocked the contender for his recent performances.
Tsarukyan hasn’t fought since a unanimous decision win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 300. He’s won 4 consecutive fights since a controversial loss to Mateusz Gamrot in June 2022.
Topuria faced off with Pimblett after his knockout win over Oliveira at UFC 317, pointing to a possible clash between the 2 longtime rivals. But Tsarukyan and Gaethje also make strong cases for the following title shot.
As of this writing, it’s uncertain how the UFC matchmakers will book Tsarukyan for his next appearance. But amid constructing tensions between Tsarukyan and Topuria, the UFC has their hands full in matchmaking the lightweight division.