“Knocked Me Out In 20 Seconds” - Arman Tsarukyan REVEALS His WILD MMA Origins

The speaker recounts his early life, starting in Georgia before moving to Russia. He began wrestling at age six, excelling quickly, but disliked the need to cut weight, a practice he now views as detrimental for children. He wrestled professionally from six to nine or ten, beating everyone in his age group. Around age nine or ten, a hockey coach noticed him playing in his backyard in Khabarovsk, a cold region of Russia where hockey is popular. Despite starting later than most—at ten compared to five or six—he played professional hockey from ten to seventeen, aspiring to reach the NHL. His father was supportive, offering to send him to Canada or the USA for better opportunities, but as a child, he preferred to stay in Russia. He believes he was good enough to have made it in the NHL if he had moved. At seventeen, he realized he wouldn't be a great hockey player and decided to work in construction with his father. However, after three months, he found the demanding, unscheduled work unappealing, contrasting it with the structured, clean lifestyle of an athlete. He decided to return to sports and asked his dad to attend a grappling school. Having a strong wrestling background, he quickly picked up grappling, a sport just emerging in Russia. After an eight-year break from wrestling and grappling while playing hockey, he became a Russian grappling champion within a year at age eighteen. Grappling eventually became boring for him. He saw someone fighting in MMA and was captivated by the walkout, the music, and the crowd. He asked his father for permission to have just one MMA fight, despite his father's and mother's concerns about injury. He had no prior fighting experience, only grappling. He won his first fight, and despite lacking a coach to advise caution, he accepted a second fight against an experienced opponent with ten or eleven professional fights. He was knocked out in 15 or 20 seconds. Determined to avenge the loss, he asked his father to send him to Thailand for a year to train. He found "Tiger Mai" on YouTube and traveled there alone, training intensely all day, every day, from Jiu-Jitsu and MMA to sparring. He would return to Russia for competitions and then go back to Thailand. Exactly one year later, he returned to Russia and beat the fighter who had knocked him out, choking him unconscious. His father, seeing him win five fights and become a Russian MMA champion, wanted him to retire at nineteen. However, a manager encouraged him to continue, highlighting his potential for the UFC. Unfamiliar with the UFC at the time, he continued fighting, eventually achieving a 30-win streak. He was signed to the UFC on two weeks' notice for their second event in Russia, where they were looking for local talent. His UFC debut was against Islam Makhachev. Despite the short notice and the caliber of his opponent, he felt confident, believing he could win and viewing it as a chance to secure a four-fight contract. He attributes his confidence to his "blood" and his parents' hard lifestyle, which instilled in him the need to take risks. He describes his father as a tough, hardworking man who prioritized his family's future over his own desires, never complaining.