Arman Tsarukyan isn’t worried about fellow Lightweight contender Max Holloway.
One month ago, perhaps that wasn’t the case. Like Tsarukyan, Holloway was chasing down a dance with Ilia Topuria, and the former BMF kingpin wasn’t far off from earning his first UFC Lightweight title shot. Unfortunately for the “Blessed” Hawaiian, he came up rather short at UFC 326, as he was soundly controlled and wrestled by Charles Oliveira in an upset defeat.
“Do Bronxs” was viewed as a live dog ahead of their main event matchup, but few expected him to so easily dominate the fight on the canvas. The outcome has raised a lot of questions about Holloway’s future as a contender, and Tsarukyan isn’t wasting time to declare his career dead.
“Max is done already,” Tsarukyan told Ariel Helwani. “He’s just going to make money and then retire. He’s not that Max anymore … He looked so bad in his last fight. I was surprised, how you cannot wrestle? Zero wrestling. You’ve been in this sport 20 years, and you cannot even defend a takedown from Charles Oliveira. Charles Oliveira has no takedowns. Good jiu-jitsu, but I’ve never seen him wrestle very well.”
That said, Tsarukyan is correct that Holloway’s career is in a difficult position if his wrestling cannot hold up at 155 pounds. Oliveira is not the only physically strong grappler in a division with grinders like Tsarukyan, Benoit Saint Denis, and Gamrot. However, there just might be bigger fish to fry for Holloway, who is rumored to be the current frontrunner for Conor McGregor’s UFC return — no takedown defense needed!
Do you agree with Tsarukyan’s assessment, or was it simply an off night for the 34-year-old former champ?
