The Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California was eagerly anticipating the high-stakes showdown between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan. However, due to an injury scare involving Tsarukyan, the fight has been canceled. Interestingly, a video featuring Tsarukyan and UFC content creator Nina Marie Daniele has captured everyone’s attention, speculating it as the reason behind the injury.
Nina Marie Daniele, often referred to as ‘Nina Drama’, has a strong connection with several UFC fighters. Notably, leading up to major pay-per-view events, she creates training videos featuring the headline fighters. Before UFC 311, Nina Drama shared a post where she was with Arman Tsarukyan, who exchanged his MMA knowledge with the UFC content creator.
In one moment of the video, Tsarukyan was seen teaching Nina Drama the neck bridge roll warm-up. After the Armenian fighter withdrew from his scheduled fight, there was speculation that the neck bridge warm-up was the cause of his withdrawal. However, Tsarukyan and his team clarified that it was actually a back injury that forced him to pull out of the fight.
Bro 100% tweaked his shit trying to perform for Nina.
byu/garciareddit1996 inufc
In his UFC career, Tsarukyan has never withdrawn from a scheduled fight. However, the intense weight-cutting procedure exacerbated his back pain, making it unbearable. As a result, veteran Renato Moicano will now challenge Islam Makhachev for the UFC lightweight title in his place. Consequently, Tsarukyan has missed his first opportunity to contend for a title in the UFC.
MMA World suspects Arman Tsarukyan of injuring himself while shooting a video with Nina Marie Daniele
The fight between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan was a rematch between the two UFC lightweights. Moreover, it was a matchup between a champion and the top-ranked contender of a division. As a result, there was excitement around the UFC community surrounding this potential matchup. However, Tsarukyan pulling out from the fight didn’t bode well with the fans.
Arman Tsarukyan and Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 pre-fight press conference (Image via Instagram/@arm_011)As a result, many fight fans took to social media to share their reactions. Notably, a video of Tsarukyan demonstrating a neck bridge with Nina Marie Daniele caught people’s attention and sparked intriguing responses. Even former UFC star Derek Brunson expressed his thoughts after watching the clip. Take a look at the reactions below.
The way I just laughed 😂😂😂 thinking about how Arman Tsarukyan threw his back out trying to impress Nina Drama 💀#UFC311 pic.twitter.com/fggw70MY3p
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) January 17, 2025
Arman Tsarukyan just FOUR days ago, with an existing back injury, trying to impress Nina Drama. You can’t make this sh*t up 😭 pic.twitter.com/JfCgA8VkfP
— Pedro Yan 🇩🇴 (@QuisqueyanoMMA) January 17, 2025
Of course Nina Drama is to blame for Arman injuring himself 😭 pic.twitter.com/96GCFUGDZA
— Elonov 🇦🇺 (@ElonovMMA) January 17, 2025
I know that mating rituals where the male does an elaborate dance to demonstrate his physical prowess to the female are common in the animal world. But did Arman Tsarukyan really had to do this neck bridge spinning in front of Nina Drama for 17 mins straight, just days before his… pic.twitter.com/a5TguaboQE
— PAM (@ParamPam1990) January 17, 2025
That’s why he will never beat Islam ever. In fight week nigga trying to get some pussy while Islam eating 10 calories per day focus on the task.
— Jorge Perez (@cholo7475) January 17, 2025
Bro just lost a bag and probably didn’t even hit lmao.
— Tony (@leadingains) January 17, 2025
It’s probably what caused it. This workout is terrible. Mike Tyson went through multiple surgeries cause his neck was all jacked up from doing this workout.
— CheeseFoMe (@CheeseFoMe) January 18, 2025
bro tried to impress the huzz and lost his chance to became champion
— septy (@oguzirl) January 17, 2025
Threw away the biggest chance to fight for the UFC title against Islam just to impress a 36-year-old mid. Man of culture, though. https://t.co/k3PFnBZFPG
— Victor (@BayernVictor) January 18, 2025
Imagine fighting for your biggest dream and you fuck it up one day before the fight, trying to impress Nina of all people 😐 https://t.co/33u3iZiRBf
— Abdul Rehman (@FubsyMani) January 18, 2025
That backfired on him. 😭
— Silky Moose (@Silky_Moose) January 17, 2025
Bro definitely threw out the back tryna show off 😂😭😂😭😂
— IH8AlexJones (@Bigapemonkee) January 17, 2025
Fight fans appeared to criticize Tsarukyan for missing one of the biggest opportunities in his UFC career to date. However, unlike the online critics, Khabib Nurmagomedov responded empathetically to the Armenian fighter’s withdrawal. The former undisputed UFC lightweight champion also extended his best wishes for Tsarukyan’s future.
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