It has been almost a year since Arman Tsarukyan withdrew from the UFC 311 title bout against Islam Makhachev, citing a “back injury” just days before the fight. However, the controversy remains, as many fans believe Dana White is still punishing the Armenian contender for jeopardizing such a high-stakes event. Much of that frustration has since shifted toward UFC personality Nina Marie Daniele.

During a pre-event content shoot, Arman Tsarukyan filmed behind-the-scenes wrestling warmups while training with her. The clips quickly went viral, showing him playfully guiding her through neck mobility drills in a lighthearted way. As a result, some fans began to speculate that he caused his alleged injury while trying to impress Nina, a theory that former UFC fighter Derek Brunson even echoed. Naturally, the narrative quickly snowballed, and fans started tagging Daniele with the so-called “Nina Curse.” Recently, Merab Dvalishvili stepped in and defended her.

Merab Dvalishvili breaks silence on “Nina Curse” speculation in UFC circles

Top-ranked contender Arman Tsarukyan is still chasing the title shot he missed. Meanwhile, things around the UFC heartthrob have worsened, as fans have linked Nina Marie Daniele to the so-called “Nina Curse,” claiming that fighters she appears with often face misfortune. Fans point to several examples to support this belief.

For instance, Alex Pereira appeared in a video with Nina-Marie and then lost his title to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313. Similarly, Marvin Vettori trained with her before UFC Vegas 104 and then lost. In the same vein, Diego Lopes lost at UFC 314, and fans connected that to “bad luck” ahead of his high-profile fight.

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Recently, Merab Dvalishvili lost his belt to Petr Yan at UFC 323, which, of course, once again reignited internet fan frustration toward Nina Marie Daniele. In response, ‘The Machine’ came forward to defend her.

“Who doesn’t know that move? Arman, indeed, we’re with you. That’s just a wrestling warmup move. This is Almaty; he’s simply flexible. There is no way you can hurt your back with this. It actually helps your back and works as a good exercise,” said Merab Dvalishvili via Nina Drama.

Dvalishvili is partly correct, as Arman Tsarukyan trains as a lifelong high-level wrestler and regularly performs neck mobility exercises. However, regarding the UFC 311 incident, rumors at the time drove the narrative around the Armenian star’s injury. He actually missed weight, so he used the injury as an official excuse, which Dana White later confirmed.

Dana White clarifies his relationship with Arman Tsarukyan

UFC CEO Dana White has little tolerance for anyone who threatens or jeopardizes his events, just ask fighters like Francis Ngannou and Muhammad Mokaev. But his stance with Arman Tsarukyan is different, as White knows exactly what happened at UFC 311 and has dismissed the back injury story.

“[Tsarukyan] had the opportunity to fight for the title and didn’t make weight,” White explained, revealing what actually happened at UFC 311. Even though Arman Tsarukyan has already proven himself, White went on to announce the next lightweight interim bout between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324, leaving Tsarukyan on the sidelines. Still, White maintains that he doesn’t dislike him.

“It’s not like I’ve confronted Arman,” Dana White said. “And you know, Arman’s a man. He knows. He knows how this played out. He knows how this all went down behind the scenes. He knows. We all f—–g know… A lot of man s— happens in this f—ing business and we keep it between us men, and it is what it is,” UFC CEO Dana White told MacLife.

Dana White has now clarified the relationship, but Arman Tsarukyan has not responded yet. We will share an update if he does, so stay tuned.