The leading UFC lightweight contender has at last provided some clarity.
Arman Tsarukyan is now back in pursuit of another title shot, after having to withdraw from his long-awaited fight against Islam Makhachev just a day before UFC 311 due to a reported back injury.
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Tsarukyan pulled out of the bout against then-champion Makhachev one day before the event, saying a back issue was the cause.
A year later, Tsarukyan has now detailed the injury he says kept him out of action and derailed his title plans.
Arman Tsarukyan reveals hernia diagnosis behind Islam Makhachev fight withdrawal
Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC
Tsarukyan recently fueled speculation by suggesting weight issues played a role in his UFC 311 withdrawal.
During UFC Qatar fight week, he told his nutritionist on camera: “CapNutrition this time did work 100%, we didn’t miss weight like last time.”
But during an appearance on Adin Ross’s stream, the Armenian said that an MRI showed he was dealing with a hernia.
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“So I did an MRI after the fight, and it shows — I don’t know how to explain in English. I have that thing (a hernia).
“So I may need surgery or I may not. We’ll see. If it is gonna bother me again, I gotta do surgery.
“Yeah (it was painful). My back was stuck, I couldn’t move. Then in two, three weeks, I started to move (again),” he added.
Joe Rogan thinks Arman Tsarukyan’s UFC 311 withdrawal was weight-related
Tsarukyan has already been open about the toll the weight cut took on him last year, which adds more context to Rogan’s comments.
The lightweight spoke about it after he beat Charles Oliveira at UFC 300, revealing just how difficult the final days of his fight camp were. His efforts to drop enough pounds ended up stopping him from making the final cut.
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Rogan shared a similar view, saying:
“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,” Rogan said on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
