Israel
Adesanya believes Arman
Tsarukyan needs to be more dialed in to reach the pinnacle of
the sport.
Tsarukyan (23-3) is among the most popular stars in the
UFC today, partly due to his regular appearances with social
media inlfuencers like Sneako, N3on, and Nina Marie-Daniele.
Adesanya believes Tsarukyan needs to spend more time training
instead of hanging out with streamers if he wants to reach the very
top of the sport. Adesanya admits that Tsarukyan’s popularity has
skyrocketed due to his social media. However, the former
middleweight champion believes Tsarukyan might find himself
sidelined from the UFC lightweight title picture yet again.
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Choosing Priorities
“[Arman’s] streaming… Look, he knows how to train, he knows what to
do but, to be at the top-top of the game, you can’t be hanging out
with Sneako and N3on on the regular,” Adesanya said on „The Mightycast.” “You gotta be in the gym… You
gotta be at least as active as possible. So Arman, popularity wise
I’d say his stock is boom, shot up. He’s doing the right thing. But
I think Gaethje sitting frontside at the Max vs. Conor fight in
Vegas – he’s already got the story there with Max – he wants
revenge. But also Conor vs. Gaethje would feed families, it would
feed f—-ing countries.”
Tsarukyan has been deprived of a lightweight title shot despite
widely being considered the most deserving contender.
“Ahalkalakets” initially irked the UFC top brass by pulling out of
a title challenge against Islam
Makhachev last year. While many expected that Tsarukyan would
have compensated by beating Dan Hooker
this past November, he still remains sidelined.
Justin
Gaethje dethroned Ilia
Topuria to win the lightweight title last weekend in a huge
upset. While Tsarukyan should ideally be the frontrunner for the
next title shot, Conor
McGregor’s return against Max
Holloway at 329 next month could complicate things.