Arman
Tsarukyan believes coach Sam Calavitta had little role to play
in Khamzat
Chimaev’s title loss at UFC
328.
Chimaev (15-1) lost his middleweight title to Sean
Strickland at UFC 328 earlier this month. Chimaev was evidently
fatigued in the second round, which forced him to abandon his
wrestling thereafter. Fans and pundits have since started
questioning Chimaev’s training under Calavitta at The Treigning Lab
in California.
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Chimaev and Tsarukyan have long been training strength and
conditioning under “Coach Cal” at “The Garage,” which is home to
The Treigning Lab. Tsarukyan notes that the same fans who are
questioning Calavitta were heaping praises on him when Chimaev
dominated Dricus Du
Plessis for 25 minutes to win the title last year. Tsarukyan
explains that strength and conditioning is only a minor part of a
fighter’s training, which majorly depends on sparring and technical
drills.
More Than Strength and Conditiioning
“When you lose, everybody is trying to find excuses,” Tsarukyan
said on the “Jaxxon Podcast.” “But when he won his title,
everybody said ‘Coach Cal’ did great job… People are always gonna
say something, and you gotta take it… Strength and conditioning is
not MMA. It gives you good cardio, but if you are not wrestling,
not sparring, if you don’t like to work on your technique, this
garage work is not gonna help you. It’s like 5%, maximum 10% of
your MMA fight. It’s not a big deal.”
Many believe Chimaev currently lacks an MMA head coach. Kamaru
Usman pointed out that Tsarukyan, who hasn’t even fought for a
title yet, was seemingly leading Chimaev’s corner at UFC 328.
Meanwhile, Georges St.
Pierre’s coach Firas Zahabi recently pleaded with Chimaev to
join Tristar Gym.