Arman Tsarukyan entered the UFC, putting Armenia’s name on the global MMA platform. Although Tsarukyan primarily lives and trains out of Russia, he has been seen carrying the Armenian flag during his walkout, and only recently, he revealed the reason behind it. Arman was born into an Armenian family in Akhalkalaki, Georgia, a town with a large Armenian community, and his family moved to Russia when he was a toddler for better opportunities and growth.

Tsarukyan recently disclosed that his national representation in the UFC was not entirely his choice. According to the lightweight fighter, it was a condition that the UFC made him sign about representing Armenia. This reinforces the idea of how the UFC markets itself by assigning national identities to fighters and expanding their global reach. With Russian fighters already dominating the UFC, the Armenian flag seems like a business decision and geopolitical interest.

Arman Tsarukyan explains the UFC’s flag condition

“I am a Russian fighter who represents Armenia. When I got signed, they told me I need to represent Armenia,” Arman Tsarukyan wrote a long post on X.

He added,” You don’t even need a citizenship to represent a country. In UFC, you can represent a different country each fight. So, they gave me this condition that they will sign me if I represent Armenia. I said doesn’t matter to me, if I win the title, it’s going to stay in Russia anyways, because I live and train here.”

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Tsarukyan’s words also shed light on how flexible the UFC is when it comes to national representation of fighters. Religion and nationality should never be a hindrance in sport, as fighters define themselves as fighters first, and what nation or religion they belong to later.

Tsarukyan added in the same post: “Armenia is my historical motherland, this is where my roots are from. I don’t see any problem in it; we’re all from the Soviet Union.”

For Tsarukyan, that one condition the UFC threw at him was not a problem, and he was more than happy to serve for it. His words seem like he made a practical choice

Armenia’s quiet rise in the UFC is starting to take shape

Maybe not as famous as Arman Tsarukyan, but if we dig deeper, there are more Armenian fighters in the UFC other than the lightweight contender.

Some names include Armen Petrosyan, who was a Russian-Armenian UFC fighter. After 3 consecutive losses, he was released from the promotion in 2025. His last outing was in UFC 313, where he suffered a submission loss to Bruno Ferreira.

Another fighter of Armenian descent is Edmen Shahbazyan. Although he represents America, he was born in Glendale, California, home to one of the largest Armenian diaspora communities in the U.S. Born to Armenian parents, his birthplace has been consistently talked about in interviews.

He is actively fighting in the promotion and is training out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Shahbazyan is on a 3-fight win streak in the UFC.

Armenian influence in the Octagon is no longer an anomaly. It may be early days, but the flags are appearing, and history says that’s usually how a pipeline begins.