In addition to Arman Tsarukyan (21-3) being insulted and receiving death threats from fans, “Ahalkalkets” was also asked an inappropriate question about Kayla Harrison (16-1) who was sharing the stage with him. While the exchange between Tsarukyan and the fan was in Russian, translations flooded the internet shortly after.
The fan reportedly asked Tsarukyan “how many sticks” he would throw at Harrison, which seemingly translates to whether he would have sex with her. Tsarukyan answered with, “a couple,” apparently in the affirmative.
Harrison, who was tagged in endless clips of the exchange on social media, finally addressed the issue during an appearance on “The MMA Hour.”
“The guy asked him [Tsarukyan] basically how many times he would… He asked him a really inappropriate question about me. And Arman answered it. And I looked like an idiot. I’m up on the stage like laughing,” The former Professional Fighters League champ said.
“And Megan Olivi is like, ‘Would you care to translate it’? And Arman’s like, ‘No, stupid question; move on.’ And the next day I’m tagged in all of these Russian outlets with the translation of what he asked. And you know, it’s disheartening, I think.”
While Harrison found the question disrespectful in general, she believes no female fighter would be asked the same question about a male fighter, which further irks her.
“It’s disrespectful. Like I’m a two-time Olympic champion, a world champion, I’m a mother; I’m an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse. I wrote a book. I have a foundation. So in that sense it was disrespectful that someone were to even ask that question. But more than that I think like, you would never hear a female get asked, ‘How many times would you have sex with Alex Pereira?’ That’s just like --- we don’t sexualize men like that. So, it was disheartening. At first, I was super embarrassed and shocked by it. But then I was just like, ‘You know what, I’m just going to keep being me. I’m going to say something about it when the time is right because I feel like that’s wrong.’ And I want to help change the landscape of the sport not just for me but for future female fighters. It was on International Women’s Day to boot. Like what are we talking [about].”
Harrison and Tsarukyan are teammates at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida. The Olympian also had a conversation with Tsarukyan, which was admittedly awkward but solved things between them.
“Yeah, Arman and I spoke about it. He’s a teammate, that was obviously awkward. We spoke about it, we’re good. There’s no issues with Arman.”
Harrison is set to make her promotional debut against former champ Holly Holm (15-6) at UFC 300 on April 13. Meanwhile, Tsarukyan will take on former lightweight champ Charles Oliveira (34-9).
Reference: https://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Kayla-Harrison-Calls-Out-NSFW-Fan-Question-to-Arman-Tsarukyan-About-Her-192961
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