Sometimes fighters say they’re trying to stay out of trouble, and then a clip appears online that pours cold water over the effort and pulls them right back into controversy. That’s exactly what’s happened with Arman Tsarukyan, who now finds himself in the headlines again for a controversial moment.

The lightweight contender, who recently stated on The Ariel Helwani Show that he wants to prove he can behave, claiming it to be the reason why he wore handcuffs as he appeared at cageside during UFC 326, is now going viral for doing the exact opposite—and fans are not taking it lightly this time.

Fans panic as Arman Tsarukyan holds a choke too long on livestream

In a clip from controversial streamer Clavicular’s recent livestream, Arman Tsarukyan can be seen demonstrating a sleeper hold, aka rear naked choke, on a friend of the streamer sitting out in front of him. At first glance, it looks controlled.

However, as Tsarukyan continues to hold the choke longer than necessary, the Clavicular’s friend goes unconscious, and his body goes limp while the Armenian continues to squeeze for several more seconds. At first, the steamer can be seen laughing. However, the joy quickly fades away when those watching realize their friend is out cold.

By the time the UFC star releases the hold, the friend’s body reacts, briefly convulsing before Tsarukyan lays him down flat on the floor and proceeds to check on him. Thankfully, a few moments later, the man wakes up looking visibly “shook.” However, once the clip made it online, viewers began criticizing Tsarukyan for the stunt.

The reactions were immediate. “His lawyer seeing this,” one fan commented alongside a GIF of Saul Goodman, a fictional lawyer from the Breaking Bad television series, walking in. Meanwhile, another added, “Arman trying to kill fans on a Thursday.” Some even timed it: “He was out at 13 seconds.” For many, the issue wasn’t just that the fan was choked, but how long it lasted after he was already out.

That was where most of the criticism came in. “Why did he hold on so long?” one fan asked. Another wrote, “He held that 10 seconds longer than he should’ve.” A few others pointed out basic safety awareness, “Not great awareness from Arman. He should have told the fan to raise his hands so he knows when he goes out, a couple more secs could cause permanent damage.”

Then came the jokes, with Dana White catching strays again. “Dana’s on his way to use this as another excuse,” one fan wrote. Another joked, “Arman forgot it was a fan and not Dana White for not giving him a title shot.” On the surface, it is funny, but it represents something deeper: Tsarukyan’s reputation is starting to follow him everywhere.

That is the major issue here. This isn’t an isolated moment. Between past altercations and recent attempts to prove he has changed—even showing up in handcuffs to signify things would be different—his clip just adds another layer to the narrative around him. Also, it is worth noting that when Arman Tsarukyan isn’t putting someone else in danger, he prefers to be the one facing death instead, as evident from the stunt he pulled just two days ago.

Tsarukyan tries to choke out an alligator

That same unpredictability didn’t just show up on the recent livestream. It followed Arman Tsarukyan into something even stranger just days earlier, because while people were questioning his judgment in one clip, another video showed him doing something completely different—but just as unsafe.

During a wildlife trip with N3on and Nina Drama, Arman Tsarukyan got up close to an alligator and joked about putting it in a rear-naked choke. Sitting on the animal’s back, ‘Ahalkalakets’ asked whether he could lock it in, but then changed his mind and refrained from putting his arm near its mouth. Instead, he mimicked the gesture while laughing it off, turning the moment into something between a stunt and a joke.

These incidents create a troubling portrait of a top contender, suggesting the biggest obstacle to Tsarukyan’s title aspirations may not be in the cage, but within himself. His reputation for recklessness is now overshadowing his talent, a problem that no amount of staged apologies can easily fix.