Dan Hooker doesn’t think Islam Makhachev would still like to have a rematch with Arman Tsarukyan. “The Hangman,” nonetheless, expects that he will be welcomed by the Armenian-Russian in his return, describing the fighter as “idiot” and “annoying.”
Tsarukyan started intensifying his callouts to Makhachev after knocking out Beneil Dariush in last month’s UFC Austin event. However, the pound-for-pound king expressed a lack of interest in fighting Tsarukyan, who debuted in the UFC in 2019 with a fight against him and lost. The Russian is expected to face Charles Oliveira but stressed that he’s not interested in rematches, effectively showing disfavor to the said fighter and, most of all, Tsarukyan.
For Hooker, nonetheless, there are other deeper reasons why Makhachev would turn down the idea of a rematch with Tsarukyan. As the New Zealander underscored, despite losing to Makhachev, Tsarukyan gave the current champ a hard time in the cage. To recall, “Ahalkalakets” even landed a takedown and out struck the opponent in general. One of the judges also provided a score in favor of Tsarukyan.
And now that Tsarukyan has apparently improved a lot and even reached the higher ranks of the lightweight division, Hooker believes the 27-year-old is now a threat for the champ.
“Yeah, they had a pretty close fight in the first one,” Hooker told The MMA Hour. “Yeah, [Tsarukyan] could beat him. [Islam’s] not going to fight him. I guarantee he’ll retire by the time Arman gets there, for sure. It’s too risky, there’s too much risk. There’s too many other easier fights out there that he’d rather fight. There’s easier fights out there, stylistically.”
Aside from this, Hooker thinks Makhachev’s decision about the matter has something to do with Tsarukyan’s charisma in the MMA industry. As the fighter suggested, Tsarukyan still has a small fan base, making it a disadvantage for Makhachev, who would want a ground-breaking event each time he enters the cage.
“There are bigger names,” said Hooker. “No one’s going to buy an Arman Tsarukyan pay-per-view, come on. No one’s tuning in to the press conference. No one’s giving $80 for the pay-per-view. You’d rather watch Islam fight [Conor] McGregor or [Justin] Gaethje or something like that.”
Despite that, Hooker is ready to face the young fighter when he comes back in the octagon. The 33-year-old believes there is a chance Tsarukyan will welcome him back, and he’s more than willing to accept it, especially after they previously traded insults in 2021.
“Perhaps it’s Arman,” Hooker said. “I don’t like the guy, I think he’s an idiot. I think he’s annoying. Can he fight? A hundred percent. That’s why he’s a very talented young fighter, but he’s just annoying. He’s just a dweeb. I just don’t like him.”
