Athletes
Isaac Dulgarian | Impressive And Rare
Undefeated Featherweight Talks About His New Home And His Next Challenge
I can’t say this for certain, but I’m fairly confident that no fighter has a better commute to the gym than Isaac Dulgarian.
“I'm literally in the gym parking lot,” he said. “I got my camper outside Factory X and living right outside the gym. So I just wake up, brush my teeth and go train.”
Yes, the unbeaten prospect, who faces Christian Rodriguez Saturday in Las Vegas, is living in an RV as he makes his way up the featherweight ladder. It wasn’t how the 27-year-old pictured this chapter of his career, but when the Glory MMA team splintered off after the suspension of coach James Krause, Dulgarian was forced to find a new home.
He found it in Englewood, Colorado, home to the Factory X squad led by Marc Montoya. The only problem was that the cost of living isn’t like it was back in Kansas City. So Dulgarian improvised.
“The housing prices are doubled from what it was in Kansas City where I was, so there's no way I was about to buy something out here,” he said. “That's why I bought the RV, because I was like, okay, I can pay less than what I was in Kansas City and still live in Denver.”
It was a smart move, and there is something cool about living in an RV and being able to hit the road and go wherever and whenever you want. But most importantly, it makes sense for his fighting career.
“It's a different style of living,” he said. “You’ve got to know how to fix stuff and constantly deal with random little things. It's the same as owning a house, though. It's just a little different. You got to change your propane, you got to prepare it for the winter and stuff like that, but all that work's done already.”
Saturday's Full Fight Card Preview
The RV is half paid off already, and after he owns it outright, he’s got his sights set on buying some land and building a house there.
Himself?
“I'll probably bring in some contractors to help with some things, but I know how to deal with a decent amount of work,” he laughs.
That work ethic has led to plenty of success in the fight game, but more importantly, it’s made Dulgarian a very well-adjusted young man who is still a couple years away from his 30th birthday. That’s impressive. And rare.
“It's always seemed like the world had something out for me,” he said when asked where the maturity comes from. “I don't know if someone in my family did something bad a long time ago, man, I don't know. But I don't really believe in luck. I've never had any type of good luck and I just had to deal with a lot of bad situations. And you’ve got to figure it out and you can't just quit. At the end of the day, if you want something bad enough, you'll make it happen and you just got to figure it out.”
Dulgarian figured out switching camps and moving states, a delayed UFC debut and the injuries that are always an ever-present danger when being in a combat sport. Then, when his name was finally called to face hot prospect Francis Marshall last August, he figured that out, too.
Tuivasa vs Tybura Main Event Breakdown
In less than five minutes.
“I was bred for this moment,” said Dulgarian. “My grandpa put everything into me, took me to the biggest, baddest events, and I've competed with thousands of humans that are the best at what they do. So UFC jitters weren’t really a thing for me. I was a little nervous, but it wasn't going to hamper my performance at all.”
That first-round TKO improved Dulgarian’s pro record to 6-0 with six first-round finishes, and if anyone thought that he wasn’t ready for the UFC with less than ten fights, he proved otherwise. That’s a testament to Dulgarian’s talent and, as he points out, his grandpa’s love.
Rankings Report | Week of March 11, 2024
“He put everything into me,” said Dulgarian. “He would take me around the U.S. every weekend. We'd be in New York one weekend, Arizona the next weekend, wrestling. He sacrificed money, his job, his time, everything, just for me. He wouldn't do it for anybody else, but just for me. He believed in me more than anyone else. I really do a lot to make him proud. He wasted a lot of his life on me, and I want to make it worth it to him.”
It wasn’t a waste, it was all for a purpose, one Dulgarian is fulfilling now, and one he plans on playing forward when he and his lady, Invicta FC vet Alexa Culp, welcome their little girl in April.
“I've always wanted to be a father,” he said. “My dad passed when I was about three years old. My grandpa took that father role in my life, and it all came down to finding the right girl. And my lady, she's a really good one. She supports me and she's a fighter, as well, so she understands what I'm going through.”
View Dulgarian's Athlete Profile
Dulgarian is going through some good things right now and he plans on keeping the momentum going on Saturday. For himself. For Alexa. For their daughter. For grandpa.
“He's extremely happy,” said Dulgarian when asked his grandfather’s reaction to his success in the fight game. “Every time I go over to the house, he's watching my fights, and I think I've already made him proud, but I still think there's a lot of unfinished business. I don't take it lightly how much he's given to me. And if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be anywhere near this position. It’s kind of cliche, but I'd probably be a troublemaker and I wouldn't be on the right path. So he really instilled a lot of good things in me and I just want that not to go to waste.”
UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs Tybura took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 16, 2024. See the final Prelims and Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass.
Tags
