Arman Tsarukyan speaks highly of Adriano Martins, the only man to beat Islam Makhachev.
Tsarukian will challenge Makhachev for the lightweight title in the main event of UFC 311 on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Las Vegas. In preparation, Tsarukyan has been training with Martins, who suffered the only loss of his career to Makhachev in 2015.
Makhachev fought Martins in his second year at the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2015, losing by first-round knockout. Since then, Makhachev has taken over the lightweight division, and many believe the loss was due to a stroke of luck on Martin’s part. But Tsarukyan didn’t think so after sparring with the Brazilian veteran. According to ‘Ahal Karakets’, Martins had natural power in his hands and bled for two weeks after taking a blow in sparring.
“To be clear, his punches are insane,” Tsarukyan told Ushataika (h/t Home of Fight). “It wasn’t just a lucky punch as people say. He landed two punches like that on me during sparring, and… no one has ever hit me like that before. No. Once he caught me, my eyes Completely swollen and blue. I don’t know… I’ve been coughing up blood for two weeks, dude. His strength is natural and totally insane. He just hits incredibly hard. That right hook and straight left, it’s crazy.
“It’s not surprising at all. I thought it was a lucky punch too, but after sparring with him… when he hit me with a right hook, it’s better to box away from this guy. I realized that.”
Makhachev is undefeated in 14 fights since losing to Martins, including four title wins. Tsarukyan, on the other hand, has only lost once in 10 fights since losing to Makhachev in 2019.
