Exactly one year ago, on May 2, 2025, Arman Tsarukyan fought at Karate Combat against Makkasharip Zainukov, which seemed like a one-time appearance. Since then, Tsarukyan has competed nine additional times outside of MMA, competing in grappling, submission-only, and freestyle wrestling across four different promotions. Only four of his ten total matches went to decision, as he submitted tough opponents including Mehdi, Freire, and Henderson. The RAF league has grown significantly alongside Tsarukyan and now wants him at every event, with two matches already scheduled just two weeks apart. His social media presence has also exploded over the year, doubling his subscriber count, launching a Telegram channel that reached over 100,000 subscribers from zero, and producing vlogs that have accumulated more than 5 million total views, with daily short videos regularly reaching several million views each.
Arman Tsarukyan has capped a remarkable twelve months of cross-discipline competition, marking the one-year anniversary of an outside-MMA run that began as a single appearance and evolved into a sustained, multi-promotion campaign.
On May 2, 2025, the Russian lightweight contender stepped into Karate Combat to face Makkasharip Zainukov in what looked like a one-off curiosity. Instead, it was the starting point of ten total non-MMA contests spanning grappling, submission-only, and freestyle wrestling across four separate promotions. Only four of those bouts went the distance, with Tsarukyan finishing opponents including Mehdi, Freire, and Henderson via submission along the way.
Tsarukyan, 29, enters this milestone moment ranked first in the UFC lightweight division with a professional MMA record of 23-3. The American Top Team product stands five-foot-seven with a 72-inch reach and has built his UFC reputation on high-volume, accurate striking — landing 3.85 significant strikes per minute at 50 percent accuracy — while also averaging 3.26 takedowns per 15 minutes, a combination that translates naturally to the multi-discipline format he has been embracing.
The RAF league has emerged as a central home for this outside-MMA activity, with the organization now scheduling Tsarukyan for two events just two weeks apart, a sign of how much his involvement has elevated the promotion's profile.
Why it matters
- Tsarukyan's top-ranked lightweight status makes his sustained activity outside MMA an unusual and closely watched development in the sport.
- His submission finishes across formats demonstrate well-rounded skills that go beyond his known striking-heavy MMA game.
- The RAF league's rapid growth alongside his participation signals a broader appetite for elite MMA fighters competing across disciplines.
His off-cage footprint has grown just as quickly. Over the past year Tsarukyan doubled his social media subscriber count, launched a Telegram channel that reached over 100,000 followers from scratch, and produced vlogs accumulating more than five million combined views, with short daily videos routinely drawing several million impressions each.
