The highly publicized incident between UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan and content creator Giorgio Poullas is a hot topic in the grappling community. Bo Nickal offered his perspective on during an appearance on the Show Me The Money podcast.
When asked about the confrontation between Tsarukyan and Poullas, known for his Take Me Down challenge series, Nickal provided a measured assessment of both competitors’ actions.
“I’ve seen Giorgio a few times at different events and stuff like that, super nice dude. What he’s doing is very cool, just to kind of like I guess bring more light to the sport and put the sport into a cool position,”
However, Nickal did not shy away from addressing the heated nature of their encounter.
“As far as the match with Arman, I felt like I felt weird about it. I felt conflicted because on one hand I think that you know Giorgio definitely instigated it. Had he not been extra aggressive that you know that probably it wouldn’t have it wouldn’t have escalated at that point. It wouldn’t have happened,”
the UFC middleweight explained.
Nickal elaborated on the specific tactics employed by Poullas during the match.
“I think on the other hand like Giorgio was like trying to be in that gray area of like hey I’m clubbing you, I’m collar tying you hard, you know I’m twisting the fingers a little bit. This is all like in gray area of wrestling. I think he did cross a line like he went too far, but Arman also was crossing the line too, like open hand slapping him. I think that they were both just getting chippy and it is what it is.”
From Nickal’s wrestling background perspective, such physicality is not uncommon in competitive matches.
“I feel like, you know, from my mindset, it’s like, all right, do that and then just compete and then just wrestle. Like, okay, you slap each other, he slapped him. All right, now start. Like a lot of times in wrestling matches, guy gets chippy, other guy gets back. All right, we’re both, you know, slapping each other now, let’s just wrestle and compete,”
he said.
However, Nickal acknowledged that Tsarukyan’s response escalated beyond typical wrestling conduct.
“Obviously, Arman took it to another level. Felt extr emely disrespected going after him after the whistle was over.”
” But so I mean overall it’s kind of hard to put blame on either side or whatever. Like I don’t really feel like oh it’s this guy’s fault or that guy’s fault. Like they’re both chippy. Both did their thing.”
The Penn State wrestling alum also questioned Poullas’s tactical approach given his opponent’s MMA background.
Nickal suggested that Poullas should have focused purely on wrestling technique rather than physical intimidation.
“I feel like you just compete. Let the let the I think if Giorgio would have just wrestled hard and like tried to win the match, he could have won the match. He was one takedown away. He was a big underdog. I think that he was, you know, it was five to three with five penalty points or whatever. And if Giorgio would have got one more takedown, he would have won the match on criteria.”
The middleweight prospect emphasized that a clean competitive victory would have served Poullas better.
“I would just been like, dude, just try to win the match. That’s your biggest the biggest thing you could have done for yourself to promote yourself would have been win the match. But the second biggest thing would have been win the match.”
Regarding Poullas’s credentials, Nickal offered respect while providing context.
“Giorgio obviously has good wrestling, you know, he was a state champion in Ohio in high school and stuff and really good high school wrestler. ”
“He did okay in college but, you know, not great. But I think he’s obviously () skilled and talented. Like when I watch him and his clips and stuff, I’m like, ‘Yo, this dude’s good.’ This guy can wrestle. And we saw he almost beat Arman who Arman’s one of the best grapplers in the UFC. So the kid has skills. He is very good.”
Nickal ultimately maintained that both competitors share responsibility for the incident while acknowledging the entertainment value it created for RAFL.
“It’s not really either guy’s fault. They’re both competitive and you know they’re going to do a grappling match. It’s probably going to be the same thing. I can’t imagine it going too much differently.”
