Sergo Khzarjyan is a rising star in combat sports
At just 26 years old, Sergo Khzarjyan couldn’t have asked for a better start to his mixed martial arts career.
The combat sports world has been blessed with Tuff-N-Uff, an MMA promotion that allows some of the most talented athletes in combat sports to duke it out. At the promotion’s 143rd installment on Friday, April 25, Khzarjyan doubled his career finishes with a TKO victory against Jordan Irizarry. The referee called a stoppage to the fight as the Armenian fighter landed multiple unanswered punches—24, to be exact.
“There were a lot of thoughts going through my head, but once I heard Armenian music play, it was kind of just clarity. I knew that, you know, when I heard this symphony, it’s time to perform,” Khzarjyan told the Weekly. Khzarjyan held the Armenian flag high and walked out to the song ‘Artsakh’ by Ara Gevorkyan, alongside Freestyle MMA Las Vegas owner and coach Gokor Ambaryan.
Before we get into Sergo’s accomplishment, let’s learn more about the up-and-coming fighter.
Born and raised in Kanakeravan, Armenia, Khzarjyan moved to the United States with his family at 10 years old. “When I was a kid, around six, it was very popular to have your kid do karate… But after a few years, I realized this isn’t for me. The realism factor wasn’t really there. So, I went ahead and somehow got into fencing after watching a few James Bond movies,” he said.
Although karate wasn’t in his cards, fencing was a royal flush for Khzarjyan. “I did pretty good in fencing, and I continued that even in America—and I went to nationals twice for that. I guess that, in a sense, translated into this sport, as far as distance management—how to keep your opponent at bay.”
He applied what he learned through his love for combat sports. “I also did wrestling in high school for a year, which got me introduced to any sort of grappling. It left a taste in my mouth where I wanted it more. There aren’t really many opportunities to progress in wrestling unless you’re going into college wrestling.”
While navigating high school and athletics in Las Vegas, Khzarjyan met someone in 2015 who would change the course of his life. “When I met Gokor [Ambaryan], he didn’t even have a gym. He was a brown belt, training somewhere here in Las Vegas, as well as LA, under Hayastan MMA. Through our friendship over time, when I heard he was opening a place, I tried it out. I liked the idea of it. It felt kind of like wrestling, but obviously, the submission factor was so mind-blowing to me.”
Khzarjyan’s love for jiu-jitsu and grappling would blossom into a fighting career. It was something of a pipe dream in 2017, when Ambaryan started training others while remaining an undefeated MMA fighter. “You have to imagine, it’s a sublease in a corner of this warehouse where they sell luggage out of. You got these trucks coming through, people whistling, and so, it’s a very untraditional place to train sports,” Khzarjyan said.
They made it work. Each year, Ambaryan’s gym grew. “He then rented a place for a bit, and the first official spot opened in 2017. He expanded that spot and bought the unit next to it. We kept growing, and the more you grow, the more mat space you need.”
Now, Freestyle MMA Las Vegas is regarded as one of the highest-rated gyms in the city. “This latest gym is completely massive. It’s close to 5,000 square feet. We have a full-sized Tuff-N-Uff cage inside the gym, which not a lot of gyms have. It’s a huge blessing that I’ve been here and grown under Gokor, but also to watch Gokor grow as well, and throughout time, represent our country, represent the United States and represent team Hayastan,” Khzarjyan said.
While going through years of intense training, one constant has remained for Khzarjyan—his connection to his homeland. Sergo credits his family for raising him to always raise the flag high.
“I think my father has a lot to do with this. He is very educated in Armenia’s history, and he’s been able to educate us on the culture and history. Armenians have been around since the earliest archaeological evidence. Throughout history, as we know, not a lot of good things have happened to us. But we’re going to prosper, right? It’s the belief that we will prosper. And I want to promote that and I want to make sure people that come to countries outside of Armenia don’t forget who they are,” Khzarjyan explained.
Sports and personal life have intertwined for Khzarjyan, providing him with a new sense of pride. “I did this sport so much and spread it out in my community to a point where, now, my barber trains jiu-jitsu, my real estate guy trains jiu-jitsu. My own sister has a blue belt in jiu-jitsu, which I’m very proud of.”
Ahead of his second Tuff-N-Uff bout on April 25, Khzarjyan spent nearly two months in fight camp. He says he can’t thank his wife enough for dealing with his training schedule, especially as a newlywed. “If you ask her, she says we won—and it’s true, man. She tolerated my weight cut. She tolerated my mood. She tolerated the fact that, instead of turning over in the morning and hugging her, I’m outside running or shadowboxing.”
Those workout-filled mornings were no joke either. “I usually walk around at like 185 lbs. I had to get down to 165 lbs for this fight,” Khzarjyan explained. “Fightcamp entailed, you know, MMA drills, entailed cage rounds. Me, O’Shay [Jordan] who fought on Tuff-N-Uff 143 with that head kick KO and Ion Cutebela who fights in the UFC…We’d all go to the UFC PI, and at the performance institute, we would drill together, we would color weight together and do those types of things.”
All that hard work culminated on April 25, as Khzarjyan one-upped his first fight result, a first-round submission win, with a first-round technical knockout.
“During one of the kicks, he threw a straight kick and I essentially fell. But when I fell and I got up, I felt like, now I really have to show what I’m capable of. So, when I went ahead and did that Superman punch and I got my hands wrapped around him, my confidence went up very much,” Khzarjyan recalled. He threw 24 consecutive punches, forcing the referee to call a stop to the fight.
Although Khzarjyan’s career is still in its first chapter, he’s ready to live out his story. “I would really want that amateur belt and prove myself worthy as an amateur to then go pro. I think my skill set and my style of fighting—which is really fun to watch, in my opinion—is something other promotions in the future will be looking for. So, I’m just keeping my doors open.”
Khzarjyan says a legendary Armenian fighter was his source of inspiration for not allowing this fight to go anywhere near the judges’ scorecards. “Once you start, you don’t stop. I think that comes from watching Gegard Mousasi. When he really started to feel his opponent crumble, he would just completely pile the pressure, to the point where there would be a stoppage. Other than him, I try to take bits and pieces away from everybody. Obviously, Khabib is just a complete legend, and so is Khamzat Chimaev.”
Sergo has many people in his life to thank. He says his mom, dad, sister and wife have all been major sources of support and love. If it isn’t his loved ones who continue to motivate him in the fight game, it’s his brothers and sisters back home.
“At St. Geragos, our local church, in the room where you go to light your candle, they have pictures of all the recent martyrs from 2020, the 44-day Artsakh war. It’s around 5,000 guys. Imagine what all 5,000 of these guys could’ve done for our society. So, I’m living in a sense for these people. That’s why I raise that flag nice and high, and I get energy from that, too,” Khzarjyan reflected.
Jason Takhtadjian
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Sergo Khzarjyan best of luck to you!!!!
I see bright future for you!!!
Mat God bless you and your family!!!