Arman Tsarukyan is convinced he should have left UFC Vegas 57 with a win on his record after a five-round battle against Mateusz Gamrot in the main event.
The 25-year-old lightweight prospect ultimately dropped a unanimous decision with all three judges giving him the first two rounds before scoring the last three for Gamrot. While it was definitely a closely contested matchup, Tsarukyan felt he did enough to deserve the victory.
“I didn’t lose this fight,” Tsarukyan wrote on Instagram following UFC Vegas 57. “Only upwards from here!”
In the immediate aftermath of the decision loss, Tsarukyan was just as confused about the scoring after he felt enough damage was done to help him win at least three out of the five rounds.
The difference in the fight appeared to be Gamrot’s grappling as he started to land effective takedowns starting in the third round and he continued that same strategy until the final horn sounded. As for Tsarukyan, he was incredibly effective with his kicking game as he battered Gamrot to the body with several stinging shouts throughout the fight.
“I don’t know but I thought I won this fight,” Tsarukyan said in the octagon afterwards. “I thought I won three rounds. I don’t know what happened with the judges.
“I’m going to watch again my fight and I can understand better. It’s OK, I’m going to [make] mistakes. I’ll come back, I’m very young. I can’t lose because I know I am better.”
Prior to this setback, Tsarukyan had rattled off five consecutive wins including back-to-back finishes over Christos Giagos and Joel Alvarez, which earned him his first UFC main event.
Unfortunately, Tsarukyan ended up with a loss on his resume, which is only the second time he’s tasted defeat in the UFC after dropping a decision to Islam Makhachev in his promotional debut.
As disappointing as the outcome was on Saturday, Tsarukyan sounds determined to come back better after learning from the experience with Gamrot.
“I don’t know what happened,” Tsarukyan said. “This camp was very good. I don’t know. I had to show a better fight than this one because I know me. I don’t know what happened but it’s probably it’s my first time for five rounds. That’s why it was difficult. I’m going to improve my mistakes and I’ll come back better.”
