UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan recently revealed a surprising chapter of his journey that few fans knew about. During an appearance on the Mighty Cast, the number one contender opened up about his unconventional path to mixed martial arts, which included an eight-year hiatus from wrestling to pursue ice hockey.
“From 9 to 17, I played hockey,” Tsarukyan explained. “From 6 to 9, I wrestled freestyle wrestling. And then I started doing hockey better than wrestling.”
The decision to switch sports wasn’t made lightly. Growing up in Khabarovsk, Russia, Tsarukyan saw more opportunities in hockey than wrestling.
“In my city, there were more opportunities to be a hockey player than a wrestler because hockey is so popular there,” he said. “I thought I could be a good hockey player and make money… My classmates, everybody played hockey.”
Even during his early wrestling days, hockey was always present in Tsarukyan’s life. “When I was young and still wrestling, I would go out and we’d play hockey on our backyard,” he recalled.
“I quit freestyle wrestling. I just trained every day in hockey. I wanted to be a hockey player, a legit hockey player,” Tsarukyan said. “I watched NHL and KHL in Russia and the US. I knew all the hockey players. But at the end of the day, I became a UFC fighter.”
At age 17, Tsarukyan made another pivot, this time to grappling, which eventually led him back to wrestling.
“It was like starting from the zero,” he admitted about returning to freestyle wrestling. “I transitioned to grappling first. When I started grappling, I understood that I needed freestyle wrestling for grappling too. I started doing morning wrestling and evening grappling.”
Tsarukyan credits his natural athleticism for allowing him to catch up quickly. “I was still young. That’s why I picked up freestyle wrestling very well from 19 to 20. My body does wrestling technique very easily because I’m flexible and explosive. Freestyle wrestling is not for everybody. If you’re stiff and not explosive, it’s hard to wrestle.”
His rapid progress was remarkable. Within six to eight months of returning to grappling, he won the Russian championship at age 17.
Shortly after, he attended an MMA show in his city that changed everything. “I saw the crowd, like 8,000 people. I saw fighters going into the cage with music, and I was super excited,” he said. “I like to fight. Why shouldn’t I do this? Six or eight months later, I did my pro debut. No amateur fights.”
Today, Tsarukyan’s hockey skills are still evident in his social media posts, while his wrestling serves as the foundation of his grappling-heavy combat style.
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