Arman Tsarukyan will not be shopping for Ilia Topuria’s newest prediction. Throughout a latest look on Ariel Helwani’s present, Tsarukyan laughed off the concept that Topuria might submit Islam Makhachev, then delivered the road that rapidly turned the headline: “Submit Islam? Even Khabib can not submit Islam.” He adopted that by saying Topuria has a greater likelihood of knocking Makhachev out than beating him on the mat.
“Even Khabib Can’t Submit Islam” Arman Tsarukyan Fires Again at Ilia Topuria
Khabib Nurmagomedov is broadly seen as among the finest grapplers in MMA historical past and the central determine within the system that helped form Makhachev’s fashion. Khabib retired unbeaten at 29-0, dominated the UFC light-weight division, and constructed his identify on chain wrestling, high management, and submissions that broke opponents spherical after spherical. It’s a approach of claiming Makhachev’s defensive grappling is so sturdy that even the person most related to that fashion would battle to faucet him.
“Submit Islam? He has a greater likelihood of knocking out Islam than submitting him. I don’t assume even Khabib can submit Islam.”
Makhachev owns one of many strongest grappling resumes within the division and added to it at UFC 311, the place he submitted Renato Moicano with a D’arce choke within the first spherical. That win pushed him to a report light-weight title protection, shifting him previous Khabib Nurmagomedov, Benson Henderson, and B.J. Penn in UFC light-weight title historical past.
Islam Makhachev moved as much as welterweight and have become a two-division UFC champion by beating Jack Della Maddalena for the 170-pound belt at UFC 322, a end result that ended his light-weight reign and opened the door at 155. Topuria, the previous featherweight champion, then captured the vacant light-weight title with a first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317, giving further weight to the previous debate over whether or not his path in opposition to Makhachev would have come on the toes or on the mat.
Topuria, although, has not appeared like a person backing away from the problem. In an interview, he stated that if he bought the possibility to combat Makhachev, his plan could be to take him down and submit him. He framed that end result as the kind of end that will shock the world, which inserts the arrogance he has proven in latest months whereas discussing attainable opponents at light-weight. Separate social clips additionally circulated a sharper model of that boast, together with the declare that he would ask Makhachev what his favourite submission is and beat him with it in entrance of Khabib.
Tsarukyan’s pushback is rooted in familiarity. He has shared the cage with Makhachev earlier than and has lengthy been considered as one of many division’s extra credible voices on elite light-weight wrestling. In easy phrases, Tsarukyan is arguing that submitting Makhachev is a really totally different process from submitting most athletes, even for a fighter as assured and harmful as Topuria.
For now, Tsarukyan’s place is obvious. He isn’t saying Topuria has no path in any respect. He’s saying that if a path exists, it’s much more prone to come by means of putting than by means of a submission in opposition to one of many division’s most trusted grapplers.
