Arman Tsarukyan defeated Urijah Faber with a dominant 13-1 score in a wrestling match at a UFC RAF event this week. During the match, Tsarukyan threw Faber beyond the boundaries of the mat and executed an amplitude throw. The post describes this as the main news from the UFC RAF event. The lopsided victory showcased Tsarukyan's wrestling dominance. The unusual format featured UFC fighters competing in a wrestling-specific ruleset.
Arman Tsarukyan put on a wrestling clinic against Urijah Faber at a UFC RAF event this week, rolling to a commanding 13-1 victory in a wrestling-specific format that highlighted the lightweight contender's grappling credentials.
Tsarukyan, ranked first in the UFC lightweight division at just 29 years old, entered the mat competition with a professional MMA record of 23-3-0. The Russian fighter, who trains out of American Top Team, stands five-foot-seven with a 72-inch reach and has long been regarded as one of the more complete grapplers in his weight class. His MMA numbers back that up — he averages 3.26 takedowns per 15 minutes and lands significant strikes at a rate of 3.85 per minute with 50 percent accuracy. Against Faber, he went further than a simple points victory, executing an amplitude throw and sending his opponent beyond the boundaries of the mat entirely.
Faber, the 47-year-old Team Alpha Male veteran known as "The California Kid," carries a career MMA record of 35-11-0 and remains one of the most accomplished fighters in the sport's history. Standing five-foot-six with a 67-inch reach, Faber built his legacy largely on his submission game, averaging 0.8 submission attempts per 15 minutes across his career. Wrestling under a ruleset that rewarded throws and positional control, however, was always going to play to Tsarukyan's strengths.
Why it matters
- The result underscores Tsarukyan's elite wrestling ability ahead of any future lightweight title pursuit as the division's top-ranked contender.
- The unusual UFC RAF wrestling format gave fans a rare side-by-side comparison of two fighters' grappling outside the cage.
- The 12-point margin and the out-of-bounds throw illustrate the significant physical and stylistic gap between a 29-year-old contender and a 47-year-old MMA legend competing in a pure wrestling context.
