Arman Tsarukyan made the RAF Georgia stop look like another mat-room errand, shutting out Kuat Khamitov by an 11-0 technical fall in Tbilisi before next week’s Colby Covington match at RAF 11.
Tsarukyan, already one of the most dangerous wrestlers in the UFC lightweight title picture, kept Khamitov stuck behind the pace for three periods. Khamitov, a 28-8-2 MMA veteran, did get in on single-leg attempts, but Tsarukyan kept peeling him off, forcing reversals, and turning the match into another runaway score.
The finish came with 54 seconds left, when Tsarukyan hit one more quick takedown to push the score to 11-0 and trigger the tech fall. It moved him to 7-0 in RAF, with the promotion already pushing him toward the bigger wrestling grudge match in Milwaukee.
“Georgia thank you so much for the hospitality. Give me anybody from Georgia, I’ll beat him.”
RAF showed Tsarukyan celebrating after the win, including the wild crowd dive that gave the post-match scene some real pro-wrestling chaos without needing a script.
Covington gets the sharper test next
This was not just another side quest for Tsarukyan. RAF 11 on July 18 in Milwaukee now has a cleaner runway, with Tsarukyan meeting Covington one week after handling Khamitov and a month after he steamrolled Tony Ferguson 10-0 at RAF 10.
Covington brings a different problem. He has the college wrestling background, the gas tank, and enough MMA spite to make a pure grappling match feel personal. UFC has also highlighted Covington’s NCAA All-American roots, and he has already gone 2-0 in RAF, including the narrow win over Chris Weidman that set up this next date.
That is why the Khamitov shutout is important. Tsarukyan did not just win. He kept the scoreboard clean, got another live match under him, and gave Covington a fresh look at the pace he will have to answer. Even Ben Askren’s early RAF 11 pick had Tsarukyan by one point, which sounds about right for a matchup built around hand-fighting, scrambles, and cardio.
Tsarukyan is still 23-3 in MMA and still waiting on the UFC lightweight picture to sort itself out, but RAF has kept him active while the division argues about who deserves what. Milwaukee now gets the real test. Khamitov got blanked. Covington gets a week to make sure he does not become the next name on that same list.
