“Melsik is the same always. I never change with the weather; I never change with anything. I always train hard. I need, of course, a lot of adjustments on my ground game, wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Since I’m a striker, I don’t care who’s in front of me, but I need adjustments with grappling and jiu-jitsu, which we do. We’re improving and we’re moving froward.”
Whether it’s during competition or months of vigorous training, Baghdasaryan relies heavily on his independent nature, and feels that he doesn’t need any external motivation to help him pursue his goal. In 2022, however, Baghdasaryan’s daughter Malena was born, providing “The Gun” with daily love and support to enhance his drive to become a UFC champion.
“Just talking about my daughter makes me want to cry,” Baghdasaryan said. “She’s given me so many good things. I swear, even when I’m at home talking about my daughter with my wife I start to cry. She’s so cute and she pushes me to do this.”
As confident and happy as ever, Baghdasaryan returns to the Octagon this Saturday to challenge Tucker Lutz at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs Bueno Silva. Despite Lutz having two fights on Dana White’s Contender Series and three fights in the UFC, all in the last four years, Baghdasaryan claims he doesn’t know who Lutz is and is prepared to adjust to whatever style of fight Lutz brings to the Octagon.
“To be honest with you, with all of my opponents, I don’t watch or see any of his fights,” Baghdasaryan said. “I just see his face; I don’t even know his name. Tucker or something. I swear I’m ready to go wherever; what the f*** are they going to do? In my mind, it’s not disrespect. In my mind, I know who I am, I know what I have to do, so whatever they do, I will handle.”
