Arman Tsarukyan didn’t need to throw a punch this time but he put together a great performance to beat Georgio Poullas in the RAF 7 main event.
After their first encounter ended in mayhem with Tsarukyan tackling Poullas and a brawl breaking out on stage, the top ranked UFC lightweight contender kept things much more civil this time. There wasn’t a lot of action in the early going but there was a great scramble late that allowed Tsarukyan to get ahead on the scorecard with time running out.
Then out of nowhere, Tsarukyan grabbed Poullas and launched him with a beautiful four-point throw to end the match with a 9-3 score. Afterwards, the athletes were respectful and Tsarukyan even gave Poullas credit for building the rematch to help them earn main event status on Saturday.
“I cannot lose because they give me so much energy,” Tsarukyan said after his win. “I really appreciate everyone. They know who’s the No. 1 and they believe in me. RAF champion, UFC champion. He told me he’s going to pay me my $10K. I’m no freestyle wrestler but I’m getting used to it. Thank you to Georgio as well because if not for him we couldn’t be a main event and make it big. We did our job very well.”
It was a battle for position without a whole lot of offense from either Tsarukyan or Poullas, which forced the referee to actually put the wrestlers on the shot clock for inactivity. That led to a couple of points for Tsarukyan as he went up 2-0 deep into the second period.
Tsarukyan then shot forward for a takedown but Poullas got his hips out to sprawl free before he hit the mat. Unlike the first match, neither athlete was fouling but it was clear neither one wanted to give up an inch.
With time ticking away in the final period, Tsarukyan got another push out to go up 3-0.
A late scramble led to a wild sequence with Tsarukyan actually getting exposure points and then Poullas getting a push out with a 5-3 score as the third period was coming to a close. That forced Poullas to get a little more aggressive but it backfired with Tsarukyan getting to his body and executing a perfect four-point throw to end the match as time ran out.
Poullas, who went viral with his $1,000 “take me down” challenge, definitely gave up the takedown this time with Tsarukyan getting the job done on Saturday.
Following the win, Tsarukyan turned his attention to a former training partner at American Top Team with hopes they could settle the score on the RAF mats.
“There’s one bullshit guy, he wrestled me in the gym but I never see him in the gym,” Tsarukyan said. “Colby Covington, stop trash talking, let me beat your ass.”
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