Arman Tsarukyan defeated Urijah Faber 13-1 in their RAF wrestling match, with the bout featuring a dramatic sequence where Tsarukyan threw Faber beyond the boundaries of the mat. The victory included an amplitude throw that showcased Tsarukyan's dominance throughout the match. The one-sided affair demonstrated Tsarukyan's wrestling superiority over the former MMA champion. This was billed as one of the main news stories from the UFC and RAF week. The performance reinforces Tsarukyan's credentials as an elite wrestler.
Arman Tsarukyan put on a dominant wrestling display at a RAF (Russian Wrestling Association Federation) event, dismantling Urijah Faber by a lopsided 13-1 scoreline in a match that included a dramatic amplitude throw sending Faber completely off the mat.
Tsarukyan, 29, enters 2026 as the number-one ranked lightweight contender in the UFC, carrying a professional MMA record of 23-3-0. The Russian fighter, representing American Top Team, stands five-foot-seven with a 72-inch reach and has long been regarded as one of the sport's premier wrestling threats. His UFC statistical profile backs that reputation 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. The RAF performance was entirely consistent with what he shows inside the Octagon.
Faber, 47, is a legend of the sport and still carries a 35-11-0 MMA record accumulated over a storied career, but the California Kid was competing well outside his natural home of bantamweight-level MMA. The five-foot-six Sacramento native, a product of Team Alpha Male, built his reputation on slick submission grappling and explosive athleticism rather than competitive folkstyle or freestyle wrestling. A 13-1 final score against an elite international wrestler of Tsarukyan's caliber is not a reflection on Faber's MMA legacy.
Why it matters
- Tsarukyan reinforces his credentials as an elite wrestler ahead of what figures to be a high-stakes lightweight title run
- The amplitude throw sequence highlighted his physical dominance and technical wrestling base, not just his MMA grappling
- The generational and stylistic gap between the two men — Tsarukyan at 29 and ranked first in the UFC's lightweight division, Faber at 47 and long retired — framed the result from the opening exchange
