Earlier this month, Georgio Poullas was getting dragged across the internet. Fast forward to this weekend, and he had an entire comment section showing him love. His manager, Andy Bachman, says the shift was intentional.
“Every story needs a bad guy and a good guy,” the Creators Inc. CEO said in a statement on Sunday, March 29. “Arman is a stud. Everyone loves him. So we leaned into the other side of it. We let Georgio be the villain for a few weeks because we knew who he actually was would come out when it mattered.”
It started at RAF 6 on February 28, when Poullas lost to UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan 5-3 in a match that got physical fast. Tsarukyan punched Poullas after the bell, and a brawl broke out between both corners.
In the weeks that followed, Poullas made a comment about UFC personality Nina Drama at the RAF 7 press conference that drew backlash from fans and fighters. Nina Drama later confronted him on camera and made him apologize. By fight week, the 27-year-old Ohio native was one of the most talked-about names in wrestling, and not in a good way.
Then Saturday night happened. Tsarukyan won the rematch 9-3 at RAF 7 in Tampa, and Poullas responded with nothing but class. He and Bachman posted a video to Instagram praising Tsarukyan immediately after the match. Then, in a second clip, Poullas walked up to his rival and handed him $10,000 in cash to honor a bet from their first fight. Tsarukyan flipped his phone around to show that the money was going to a child in need. “What a great guy,” Poullas said. “You see this? See this guy?” They hugged, and the room erupted.
Fans were quick to react.
“Good stuff Georgio 👑🙏🏼 god bless brother,” one person wrote.
“That’s sportsmanship @georgiopoullas god bless you brother!! ❤️❤️,” another added.
“This is better than the match!!! What a great moment,” chimed in a third.
Others pointed out that the exchange said more about the night than the result itself, with several calling it one of the most genuine moments to come out of Real American Freestyle so far.
“That’s Georgio,” Bachman said. “My job was to get his name in front of the right people. What I didn’t expect was that he and Arman would build a genuine respect for each other along the way. What happened after that match wasn’t scripted. He’s a good kid, and I’m proud the world finally got to see that side of him.”
Bachman, who reportedly brokered one of the largest single-match paydays in competitive wrestling, said the playbook was borrowed from a familiar blueprint. “What Jake Paul proved is that attention creates value,” he told Sports Illustrated. “Georgio built an audience first, and the market followed.” Poullas, who went from parking cars to a reported seven-figure purse in under two years, is proof of that.
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