Georgio Poullas is anticipating more than just a wrestling match when he faces Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 7 this Saturday. Poullas won’t be surprised if Tsarukyan takes another swing at him on the wrestling mats. He also won’t be surprised if their return match turns into a full-scale fistfight right off the bat.
After his last experience on the mat with the UFC lightweight contender, Poullas insists he’s beyond any capacity for astonishment when it comes to the behavior of Tsarukyan — during or after the actual competition.
“I can tell you, I’ll be ready for it this time, whatever happens,” Poullas told Uncrowned. “It was a coward move, what [Tsarukyan] did. He waited until I wasn’t looking. I mean, if you’re going to hit me, hit me when I’m looking at you. Don’t be a coward about it.”
Recap of the First Encounter at RAF 6
In case you somehow missed their first encounter at RAF 6, here’s a quick summary of how things went down:
- Tsarukyan took exception to Poullas’ use of clubbing hands to the head early on in their wrestling match and responded with a blatant open-hand slap that cost him a point.
- Poullas kept at it, and was eventually penalized a point himself.
- Order threatened to dissolve entirely. Tsarukyan took a swipe at Poullas between rounds. RAF officials had to walk on the mats and try to cool everyone down.
- Tsarukyan won a narrow victory on points (5-3). Then the real fun started.
The Viral Brawl After the Match
The part of the video that spread far and wide on the internet was Tsarukyan shoving Poullas onto his back after the match had clearly ended, then getting on top of Poullas and punching him in the head before outside forces could intervene. Tsarukyan also attempted a knee strike on Poullas as bodies came tumbling onto the mat, but by then the chaos of the moment had gotten in the way of any effective, targeted violence.
If you go back and watch the RAF broadcast on FOX Nation, you’ll hear commentators expressing regret and disapproval at this display. Won’t someone think of the children watching and the example we’re setting? That sort of thing. But honestly? The moment was perfect for the viral video age. It takes a lot for a clip from some freestyle wrestling event to break containment and find its way into the open waters of social media. A post-match brawl will do it, though. And when it includes a notoriously hot-headed UFC title contender, even better.
Tsarukyan’s History of Misbehaviour
Many of the initial reactions focused on that part, on Tsarukyan himself, and on the question of what exactly his problem might be. This is the same guy who, while making his walk to the cage at UFC 300, paused to attack a fan who directed an unkind hand gesture his way. More recently he head-butted an opponent — and seemingly injured him — during the ceremonial weigh-ins the day before their fight. Now it seems he can’t even get through a wrestling match without misbehaving in some memorable fashion.
Poullas, of course, has his own theories about what set Tsarukyan off in their match.