Arman Tsarukyan defends maligned coach after Khamzat Chimaev’s loss

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.

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.