Arman Tsarukyan continued his impressive run of side-quests on Saturday when he returned to the wrestling mats.
With Arman Tsarukyan‘s position within the UFC lightweight division still under strain, he continues to remain energetic by competing outside of the premier MMA promotion.
This past December, the Armenian competed against fellow UFC star Shara Magomedov under a grappling ruleset, with the match leading to a draw after neither was in a position to perform a submission.
After competing twice outside of the UFC since his win over Dan Hooker, ‘Ahalkalakets’ returned to the wrestling mats on Saturday to tackle Lance Palmer at RAF05.
Tsarukyan called out Michael Chandler following dominant wrestling win
The performance that followed left former UFC star and RAF commentator Chael Sonnen in shock, as Tsarukyan flawlessly dominated the four-time All-American wrestler, picking up the 10-0 win.
And although the Armenian is deserving of a UFC lightweight title shot, he still has some ways to go before he’s trusted by the boss, Dana White.
Nonetheless, the 28-year-old seemingly has no real interest in taking one other contender fight within the promotion, and he has as an alternative called out his fellow lightweight star Michael Chandler for a wrestling match.
“I see Michael Chandler calling out any individual he’s running from within the UFC,” Tsarukyan said after his dominant win.
“Perhaps here he’s not going to be somewhat girl and he’s going to wrestle with me because his background is wrestling. Here he has somewhat little bit of a likelihood to win against me, but within the UFC he has zero likelihood.”
‘Iron’ Mike is seemingly closer than he has ever been to a fight against Conor McGregor, with the UFC White House event being targeted.
Who wins this fight and the way? 👀
It looks like we may finally see Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler in 2026.
Chandler immediately responds to Tsarukyan’s callout
With the UFC White House event not scheduled to happen until June 14, there may be time for Chandler to compete before the event.
And as he was in attendance for RAF05, the UFC lightweight issued an fast response to Tsarukyan, telling TheSchmo in an interview: “Let me just say one thing about Arman Tsarukyan, one thing that I actually respect about Arman is even when he’s not fighting within the UFC, he’s staying energetic.
“With that being said, I’d absolutely smash Arman Tsarukyan in a wrestling match, after watching him tonight. I’ll say he looked really good and really impressive but Lance Palmer didn’t look nearly as good as he must have… Arman I’ll smash you in an RAF wrestling ring. But I’ve got my sights set on something later this summer, I believe everyone knows.”
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