Arman Tsarukyan won a belt Friday night and immediately went shopping for a bigger name. After beating Dillon Danis in Las Vegas to claim the RAF middleweight crossover title, Tsarukyan told reporters he wants the wrestling promotion to bring in Georges St-Pierre, the long-retired UFC legend, so he can wrestle him.
The comments came during his post-event media session, which MMA Fighting covered. Tsarukyan made it clear he has no interest in padding his title reign with unknowns.
“We’ve got a lot of names here, but I’m focusing on MMA fighters with the big names,” Tsarukyan said. “I don’t want to just wrestle with no names, I want to collect all big names, all the best fighters, so a lot of UFC fighters, good fighters signed. So we’ll see, maybe GSP, they can bring in GSP, I would like to wrestle him.”
View post on X
Nobody has said St-Pierre is interested. For now this is a callout and nothing more, which is fine, because callouts are free and this one is a lot more fun than an emoji.
The Danis Win
Friday’s match with Danis was one-sided, and the bad blood never really cooled. The two got physical before the event, which has become standard practice for RAF fight nights, and Tsarukyan stepped on Danis at the end of the bout. Tsarukyan says it’s over now.
“He’s OK because he knows what’s going to happen if he’s going to do something,” Tsarukyan said. “We were ready for that.”
That’s about as close to a peace treaty as you’ll get from him.
He also put the RAF title at the top of his personal list. That’s a bold ranking for a guy whose UFC résumé includes Charles Oliveira, Dan Hooker, Beneil Dariush and Mauricio Ruffy. His reasoning was refreshingly honest: Danis may not be the best wrestler he’s faced in RAF, but he brings followers and views, and a title is a title.
“This for me ranked No. 1 because I won the title,” Tsarukyan said, adding that he’s “so excited to defend as much as possible.”
View post on X
The Day Job
None of this changes his main gig. Tsarukyan is the No. 1 contender at 155 pounds in the UFC, with 11 wins in his last 12 fights inside the promotion. He has chased lightweight gold for a long time, and the RAF side quest runs alongside that chase.
RAF clearly wants him as one of its faces. The promotion’s co-founder, Bronstein, said Friday that RAF plans to run an event in Tsarukyan’s native Armenia in January, with one condition attached.
“Jan. 9,” Bronstein said. “As long as Arman can close.”
He called Armenian fans great supporters of the promotion and said RAF wants to go there and host a big show.
Quick Take
I’m all for this. A top lightweight contender who answers questions straight and asks for the biggest name on the board, instead of a cleared-out bracket of guys nobody’s heard of, is exactly what a young promotion needs. The St-Pierre idea is a long shot, and RAF has to get him on the phone first. The date to circle is Jan. 9 in Armenia, and whether that show happens depends on Tsarukyan’s UFC calendar leaving him free to headline it.
