Joe Rogan doesn’t believe that back pain was the real reason that Arman Tsarukyan pulled out of the UFC 311 main event on a day’s notice.
The renowned commentator was on the call as Islam Makhachev instead took on Renato Moicano in a short notice main event in California earlier this month. The champion had been due to rematch Tsarukyan, but he was forced out with an injury at the last second and didn’t make it to weigh-ins.
Makhachev wasn’t too concerned about the switch, and handily took care of Moicano to set the record for most ever lightweight title defences. And Rogan is still not sure if he believes the official reasoning for the fight changing.
- Who is Islam Makhachev? Step inside the life of the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet
Arman Tsarukyan cites ‘back pains’ for pulling out of UFC 311
During the weigh-ins for UFC 311, it started to become clear that something had gone wrong with Arman Tsarukyan and that he may not appear on the scales. It was later revealed by Dana White that he had suffered an injury, and the fight was changed at late notice.
Since then, he has made a number of appearances explaining what happened, telling Rampage Jackson on his Jaxxon podcast: “Wednesday I had my evening training session and after when I went to sleep I started to feel my lower back and I couldn’t sleep all night and I woke up, maybe I slept like, 30 minutes.
“And I was feeling crazy pain in my lower back. That (next) morning I didn’t train and we said we’re gonna wait until the evening and let’s see how my back is going to feel and then we went to the press conference.
“After the press conference it was okay and I started to cut my weight. During my weight cut my lower back started (to feel worse) when I was on the bike. I was laying down cutting my weight, weight was good, it was going down good.
“Then we called the doctor to come and see. I went to sleep 6lbs over and I was going to (cut it) in the morning but I couldn’t sleep all night (again)… I couldn’t even move on my back and at 5 AM I called and said I couldn’t cut weight because I couldn’t move.”
Joe Rogan believes weight cutting was real reason Arman Tsarukyan pulled out of UFC 311
However, Joe Rogan reckons that weight cutting alone may have been the issue as opposed to the mysterious back issue. He believes that Tsarukyan was attempting to lose too much from his naturally bulkier frame, and overdid it leading to a pullout.
“There’s this guy, Arman Tsarukyan, who was supposed to be fighting Islam Makachev for the world lightweight UFC title,” Rogan told philosopher Gad Saad during a recent episode of his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.
“But he hurt his back literally like the day before the weigh-ins. It’s probably because of the severe weight cut. He cuts a lot of weight. He’s very muscular.”
Arman Tsarukyan has now lost his number one contender spot
His decision to pull out of UFC 311 on short notice didn’t just cost Arman Tsarukyan that one fight, but may have pushed him down the queue in general at lightweight. He even agreed with Dana White’s sentiment that he will now need further wins to get a shot at the gold again.
Asked at the post-event press conference if Tsarukyan will be next for the belt, White replied bluntly “No,” before explaining his position. “He’s going back to the drawing board,” the UFC boss told the media.
“I don’t want anybody to ever fight hurt, ever, you know we’ve been in these positions before, went down there with the doctor, went down there with Heather from the PI who, you can ask any fighter or anybody else, she’s the best in the world.
“You miss opportunities sometimes and he did, so we’ll see how this plays out for him next year. I have no idea (if he could’ve competed at UFC 311), only he knows that,”
“I agree with Dana White,” Tsarukyan wrote on X after hearing his boss’ take. “Once my back heels, I’ll be ready to prove I’m the true number one contender by taking on anyone they put in front of me. Charles Oliveira in a 5-rounder makes the most sense,” he continued.
- Who is Joe Rogan? Get to know the UFC mainstay and podcast sensation