Arman Tsarukyan

 In life, it is important to choose your own path, and successful young fighter Arman Tsarukyan proves this. He could have become a hockey player, but he preferred mixed martial arts. Throughout his career, Tsarukyan rarely lost to anyone, and defeats always served as a motivation for him to train even harder and improve professionally. This allowed Tsarukyan to gain a huge army of fans who passionately support him in every victory. 

Arman, an Armenian by nationality, was born on October 11, 1996. Until the age of two, he lived with his parents in the small Georgian town of Akhalkalaki. In addition to him, his older brother Arthur and younger sister Isabella were raised in the family. Then the family moved to Khabarovsk, where the fighter grew up and completed his schooling. In the future, fans will refer to the renowned athlete as "Akhalkalakets," in honor of the city where he was born.

Arman grew up as a sporty and active child. Until the age of 14, he practiced wrestling while also playing hockey. From the age of 12 to 18, he played for the Khabarovsk team "Amur" and planned to become a professional hockey player. However, he did not make it into the main team, which prompted him to take up grappling, where he achieved the title of Russian champion. This marked the beginning of a new chapter in his sporting biography. His successes in grappling motivated the Armenian to try his skills in lightweight mixed martial arts (MMA). His first fight was organized on a small tournament on September 25, 2015. Arman won the battle against his opponent, Shamil Olokhanov, and went on to compete in more serious competitions. His second fight against the more experienced Alexander Belikh in December 2015 ended in a knockout and a defeat for Akhalkalakets. This fight mentally almost broke the athlete. In interviews, he admitted that he still cannot calmly review the video footage of that match. In 2016, Tsarukyan stepped into the ring four times and never lost to his opponents. He fought against Ali Khaybulaev, Alexander Merezhko, and Dmitry Shkrab. Exactly one year later, Tsarukyan had a chance to take revenge against Alexander Belikh. On December 10, 2016, the athlete took control of the fight from the beginning and won against the fighter from Blagoveshchensk in the first round. In 2017 and 2018, the Armenian did not lose a single fight out of nine.

In April 2019, Arman made his debut in the UFC league and suffered his second career loss. His opponent, Islam Makhachev, proved to be stronger and won by unanimous decision in the third round with a score of 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.

On July 27 of the same year, Tsarukyan fought against Olivier Aubin-Mercier from Canada. Tsarukyan's corner, seeing his uncertainty, recommended that the athlete, who competed for Russia, finish the fight early. However, he did not give up and managed to win by unanimous decision with a score of 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.

Afterward, Arman continued to train actively and compete under the UFC banner. In the summer of 2019, he refused a fight in Brazil against Santos to dedicate more time to training. A year later, in Abu Dhabi, Tsarukyan fought against Brazilian fighter Davi Ramos and emerged victorious, marking his first takedown in UFC. 

After the match, Arman announced that he dedicated the victory to Armenia.

In early 2021, in the same city in the UAE, the fighter faced American Matt Frevola. Initially, the fight was supposed to take place between Tsarukyan and Germany's Nasrat Haqparast, but the latter did not show up for the weigh-in, resulting in a ban on his participation. A similar situation occurred with Matt's opponent, so the tournament organizers decided to match the two fighters who were left "without a pair." During the match, Arman managed to secure 10 takedowns out of 12 attempts against the American athlete, which earned him another victory. In September, Tsarukyan faced another American, Christos Giagos, and defeated him with a technical knockout in the first round. The victory brought the Armenian the "Performance of the Night" bonus. In 2019, Arman married his girlfriend Milena in a grand ceremony in Krasnodar. The athlete does not publicize his personal life and does not post photos with his wife on Instagram (the social network is banned in Russia as it is owned by Meta Corporation, which has been declared extremist in Russia). In early 2020, his wife gave birth to their daughter Anaid. In 2022, Arman continued his athletic career. In February, he had a fight with Spanish fighter Joel Alvarez, in which Tsarukyan quickly defeated his opponent with a powerful technical knockout in the second round. And in June, during his encounter with Polish fighter Mateusz Gamrot, the Russian athlete lost, although according to fans and UFC colleagues, he should have won. The fighter apologized to his fans, stating that he is angry at himself, plans to correct his mistakes, and seek a rematch.

Currently, Tsarukyan periodically visits the places where he was born. In 2018, he visited the village of Bolshoy Aragyal together with his father, Nairi Tsarukyan, and helped renovate a school. The local residents are proud of their talented fellow countryman and welcome him with open arms during every visit to the village.

.