Nobody at RAF08 expected the night’s most memorable moment to involve both competitors tumbling off the platform and nearly landing in the laps of the commentary team, but Arman Tsarukyan has a way of making history feel inevitable.
The Armenian grappler turned in a commanding performance against UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber, building an 8-0 advantage before closing out the match by technical fall. However, the result was already decided long before the scoreboard made it official.
It was an earlier, chaotic sequence that had the crowd at RAF08 on their feet: Tsarukyan’s relentless pressure drove both men completely off the mat and onto the concrete floor near the commentary desk, where Chael Sonnen and Kurt Angle were stationed.
Tsarukyan maintained afterward that the moment was unintentional. Angle, for his part, noted that a larger stage might have kept the action more contained.
Sonnen, calling the action alongside Angle, stated, “This will be the talk of RAF8, Tsarukyan running Faber off the mats and onto the concrete.”
Once the match resumed, Tsarukyan picked up exactly where he left off. His technical precision on the mat proved relentless.
“He’s got a trap arm, this is trouble for Faber,” Sonnen noted during one of the Armenian’s extended control sequences. The scoring came in waves, with Sonnen flagging the pattern early: “If you get one, you’re going to get two.”
Faber, to his credit, showed competitive tenacity. There were moments where the veteran steadied himself and found cleaner positioning.
“I think it does give Faber a second life here,” Sonnen said at one point. But Tsarukyan never slowed.
“Two more turns and this one is over, it’s 8-0,” Sonnen called, before the finish arrived cleanly. “That’s it. That’s it, it’s over. Four points.”
Kurt Angle, an Olympic gold medalist and one of the most decorated wrestlers in American history, could barely contain his admiration. “Why is he so good? How is he so good at a sport that he’s barely done?” Angle asked aloud. His assessment went even further: “That’s why I said this kid could make the Olympic team. I know he can’t, but, you know, with a little work he could.”
The bout itself was not the one originally advertised. Henry Cejudo withdrew from RAF08 in the hours before the event, leaving organizers to elevate the Tsarukyan-Faber matchup to the top of the card.
Tsarukyan arrived at this event on the back of a victory over Dan Hooker at UFC Qatar, and had also been featured in RAF Wrestling against Georgio Poullas. A separate grappling contest between Tsarukyan and Dillon Danis had been arranged at one point but ultimately did not come together.
Following his technical fall victory, Tsarukyan wasted no time looking ahead. He called out Colby Covington directly, targeting the welterweight contender who is scheduled to face Chris Weidman at RAF09, set to take place in Texas.
