Tsarukyan is making the most of his time away from the
Octagon.
Per wrestling organization Real
American Freestyle on Thursday, Tsarukyan has been booked for
his sixth match under its banner. The Russian by way of Armenia is
already expecting to grapple influencer Keelon āMugzyā Jimison at
RAF 9 on May 30 in Texas. The headliner of RAF 7 and 8 may not be
on the top marquee for this pairing, but he will be taking on
Tony
Ferguson at RAF 10 on June 13.
Tsarukyan joined up with RAF at its fifth event in January, where
he tech falled Lance
Palmer without allowing āThe Partyā to even score a single
point. Since then, he has been a mainstay for the burgeoning
professional wrestling leagueāthat is, paid wrestling matches, and
not of the WWE and AEW variety. After topping Palmer, he rattled
off a pair of points wins over wrestler-turned-influencer Georgio
Poullas in February and March.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight
contender has only competed once in the Octagon since 2024, where
instead of a title eliminator or championship match, he headlined
UFC Fight Night 265 in Qatar and throttled Dan Hooker
with a performance bonus-winning arm-triangle choke. With the
promotion seemingly unwilling to give him a title shot, Tsarukyan
recently remarked to friend Khamzat
Chimaevāhe too will be joining the ranks of RAF, likely
debuting at RAF 10 in the Chaifetz Arena of St. Louis,
Missouriāthat he enjoyed wrestling in this league because he can
wrestle influencers and āold peopleā without ābreaking a
sweat.ā
No news is bad news
His match against an aforementioned āold personā came in mid-April
when he ragdolled 46-year-old Urijah Faber
and even threw him off the mats in what some pundits called a
ādirty moveā and potentially grounds for disqualification.
Prevailing by tech fall of 13 points to one, Tsarukyan had no
problem dominating a man 17 years his senior that he outweighed by
a significant margin. Despite the drama, RAF signed him to not one
but two more matches in the near future.
Meanwhile, Ferguson, 42, parted ways with the UFC on an eight-fight
losing streak, the longest in the history of the promotion, in
2024. āEl Cucuyā briefly saddled up with the ill-fated Global Fight
League, which still has yet to put on its first event. The two-time
National Collegiate Wrestling Association All-Americanāthis differs
from the NCAAāput in his time at Central Michigan University, Grant
Valley State University and Muskegon Community College. Outside of
the wrestling mat, Ferguson has won boxing matches against
influencers Nathaniel āSalt Papiā Bustamante and Warren
Spencer under the Misfits Boxing banner.
ANOTHER ONE š¤
Arman Tsarukyan vs 2x All-American Tony Ferguson.
Tickets in bio. Stream exclusively on @foxnation
pic.twitter.com/719J68JfLkā Real American Freestyle (@RAFWrestlingUSA)
May 1, 2026