Arman Tsarukyan has dismissed the skillset of former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira as “nothing special” ahead of their clash at UFC 300.
One month out from the biggest opportunity of his professional career, Arman Tsarukyan is not only extremely confident in his preparation for Charles Oliveira but thinks that ‘do Bronx’ won’t offer him anything special in their UFC 300 PPV opener.
Speaking via the Red Corner MMA YouTube channel, Tsarukyan admitted that whilst Oliveira is one of the top five lightweights of all time, the 27-year-old also claimed that “he’s nothing special” and that his ground game was “nothing extraordinary.”
Charles Oliveira currently holds the records for most submission wins and most finishes in UFC history.
Arman Tsarukyan snubs Charles Oliveira’s skills ahead of UFC 300
Since falling short to Mateusz Gamrot in 2022, Armenian wrestler Arman Tsarukyan has rattled off three impressive wins in a row, including a vicious first-round KO of Beneil Dariush back in December 2023.
Yet in just a few weeks, the 21-3 lightweight contender will get the opportunity to earn the biggest statement win of his career when he faces former world champion Charles Oliveira in the opening main card bout of UFC 300.
Detailing his training camp preparation on the Red Corner MMA YouTube channel, Tsarukyan explained that Oliveira excels in just one particular area – albeit to outstanding success as the current record holder for most wins (20) and most submissions (16) in the UFC.
“Charles is good at one thing – taking his opponent’s back and choking him out from that position…But overall, he’s nothing special. Yes, he has some tricks when pulling guard, but nothing extraordinary.”
“He’s got a great back-mount game where he chokes everybody out…But we shouldn’t let this happen in the fight,” said the lightweight contender.
Whilst Tsarukyan’s statements will undoubtedly cause a stir in the Oliveira fanbase, many within his training camp also believe that a path to victory has already been plotted by current champion Islam Makhachev.
Bellator fighter Alexander Shabliy claimed that “Oliveira doesn’t present anything outstanding as a fighter” and that “Islam showed how to beat him, Islam showed how to submit a BJJ artist like him.”
“Everybody used to be scared of his BJJ guard, they were afraid to go to the ground with him…Plus his chin isn’t that good; he gets hit, [and] he gets knocked down…For me personally, Oliveira seems to be a very easy matchup.”
Tsarukyan might be reminded that several times already in 2024, we’ve seen UFC veterans turning away hungry contenders – including Dustin Poirier’s stunning KO of Benoit Saint-Denis last weekend at UFC 299.
Charles Oliveira vs Arman Tsarukyan is the PPV main card opener of UFC 300, scheduled for April 13 in Las Vegas.