Arman Tsarukyan’s newest story from Khamzat Chimaev’s camp exhibits a UFC champion who can grind via camp and nonetheless carve out time for video video games throughout struggle week preparations.
In a current clip shared by Tsarukyan and reposted by Pink Nook MMA, the light-weight contender defined that Chimaev had invited him out to assist with camp, promising it might be “enjoyable” and “very enjoyable.”
When Tsarukyan arrived, he filmed Chimaev and members of the staff spending the night taking part in PUBG: Battlegrounds collectively, laughing within the background as he instructed the story. The footage, initially posted on Tsarukyan’s Instagram story after which circulated on X, exhibits Chimaev relaxed on the sofa with a controller in hand whereas the group performs the favored battle‑royale title. Pink Nook MMA captioned the repost to notice that even in the course of camp, Chimaev “nonetheless makes time to sport.”
Arman Tsarukyan Walks Into Khamzat Chimaev’s PUBG Struggle Camp
All of that is taking place with Chimaev locked in for the largest stretch of his middleweight run thus far, a primary title defence towards former champion Sean Strickland at UFC 328 on 9 Could on the Prudential Middle in Newark, New Jersey.
The unbeaten champion sits at 15‑0 and is coming off a dominant resolution over Dricus du Plessis to assert the belt, whereas Strickland brings a 30‑7 file again to the identical enviornment the place he outpointed Paulo Costa and not too long ago bounced again with a stoppage of Anthony Hernandez to earn one other crack at gold.
The matchup has further spice due to their historical past of sparring at Xtreme Couture and years of interviews and social clips the place each males have taken pictures at one another.
Over time, Chimaev has been open about using video games as his major technique to change off between periods, so Tsarukyan strolling right into a PUBG evening in camp may be very on model. In previous interviews and fan clips, he has talked about taking part in Dota 2 since his teenagers and grinding Counter‑Strike servers, whereas numerous MMA pages have listed his go‑to titles as PC technique video games, PUBG, CS:GO and Dota 2. Forward of UFC 273, he even joked in an interview that he cherished taking part in PUBG on his pc and confirmed up at a press occasion extra targeted on his cellphone sport than on a reporter’s query.
The clip lands towards the backdrop of an actual working relationship that has developed between Tsarukyan and Chimaev over the previous couple of years. Tsarukyan has beforehand spoken about travelling to affix Chimaev’s camps and serving to him put together for top‑profile middleweight fights, together with the construct‑as much as clashes with Dricus du Plessis and Robert Whittaker.
In an earlier interview, Tsarukyan described plans to roll with Chimaev on the bottom, heat him up for periods, and share data throughout camp earlier than flying with him to the USA for struggle week. Chimaev, for his half, has publicly defined why he values Tsarukyan as a coaching accomplice, pointing to the Armenian‑Russian contender’s tempo, wrestling, and talent to push laborious rounds within the room.
The PUBG night matches with different glimpses which have emerged from Chimaev’s current camps, which present a mixture of heavy work and makes an attempt to handle his power throughout lengthy coaching blocks. Behind‑the‑scenes movies from his preparation have highlighted objective‑constructed services, together with a UFC‑sized cage, a sauna, and periods break up between putting gyms and efficiency facilities the place he lifts and situations.
