Dana White respects go-getters. After all, the UFC CEO himself is the definition of a go-getter, who took over a failing, little-known, about-to-be-bankrupt UFC in 2001 and went on to build it into the most prestigious combat sports organization in the entire world. So you can imagine that the Las Vegas resident appreciates courage and boldness.
And that is perhaps why a promising Russian MMA prospect, David Mgoyan, could well find himself in the UFC in the not-too-distant future. Mgoyan fought and defeated Luciano Ramos via a TKO on MMA promotion ‘Tuff-N-Uff’ on May 22. After the victory, the Russian featherweight had a very special message for Dana White and the UFC brass.
“Hey Dana White, Sean Shelby, remember my name. My name is David Mgoyan, I am twenty years old. My professional record [is] seven wins, zero loss. Please give me one chance to fight UFC. I am ready. Doesn’t matter who my next opponent, I’m [gonna] kill [him],” Mgoyan thundered.
The Russian 7-0 fighter is training partners and friends with UFC lightweight star, Arman Tsarukyan, who was present in the cage as he gave his post-fight in-cage speech targeted at White and UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby. Of course, 7-0 twenty-year-olds aren’t exactly the type of fighters who get signed by the UFC these days since that is usually way too early for a guy to enter the toughest MMA stage in the world.
But then again, no one but the biggest stars get signed to the UFC directly these days. They either come through the Contenders’ Series, The Ultimate Fighter, or the Road to UFC. So while Mgoyan’s ballsy call-out may not secure him a UFC contract straight away, it could have gotten him closer to a shot at getting into the biggest martial arts stage in the universe. But having Arman Tsarukyan by your side while you address Dana White right now may be a mistake.
Dana White probably definitely still pretty mad at Arman Tsarukyan
Dana White was livid after Arman Tsarukyan pulled out of his UFC 311 clash against Islam Makhachev in January due to an injury. After all, the Armenian lightweight had not just pulled out, but pulled out one day before their January 18 clash. The UFC scrambled to secure an opponent and slotted in #10 Renato Moicano.
Otherwise, they would probably have had to cancel the event. After all, if the main event– the central attraction you are selling your $80 PPV– gets cancelled, can you really go ahead with the event? Either way, White was incensed. Tsarukyan had seriously hurt his back cutting weight, to the point that he was temporarily immobilized. As you can imagine, Dana White was quite upset at Tsarukyan’s last-minute pullout, which was clear from the choice words he had for the lightweight star.
“Arman’s going back to the drawing board. I don’t want anybody to fight hurt, ever. We’ve been in these positions before—went down there with the doctor, went down there with Heather from the UFC Performance Institute. You miss opportunities sometimes, and he did. So we’ll see how this plays out for him next year,” White said at the post-UFC 31 presser.
So he kicked the guy who is ranked #1 in the division to the back of the line until at least 2026. Even when champion Islam Makhachev moved up to 170 and they needed an opponent for Ilia Topuria to fight for the lightweight title, they gave the nod to Charles Oliveira, the guy Tsarukyan had beaten to secure his UFC 311 title shot. Which shows that the UFC still hasn’t forgiven him. So maybe having Arman Tsarukyan by your side as you call on Dana White and the UFC to give you an opportunity may not be a good idea at the moment. What do you think about David Mgoyan’s message for Dana White?
The post Dana White & UFC Top Brass Handed a Bold Demand From Arman Tsarukyan’s Undefeated Training Partner appeared first on EssentiallySports.
