Arman Tsarukyan and Urijah Faber turned the RAF 8 face-offs into a mix of trash talk and clowning, while Henry Cejudo tried to bring old bad blood back into the room against Merab Dvalishvili. The card suddenly had two very different flavors in Philadelphia. One felt like a circus, the other still felt personal.
Tsarukyan and Faber are meeting in the RAF 8 co-main event, and the size difference jumped off the stage right away. Tsarukyan joked that his father would ask why he agreed to wrestle someone out of shape, then backed it up by pinching Faber’s stomach during the staredown. Faber answered with his own shots, calling Tsarukyan a spoiled brat and mocking the lifestyle bragging that came up during the press conference. The whole thing was half face-off, half comedy sketch, which is probably the most honest way to describe a card like this.
It still matters because Tsarukyan is not some retired name doing one more payday lap. He is one of the best lightweights in the UFC, with the kind of chain wrestling and balance that makes almost every scramble ugly for opponents. Faber, meanwhile, is a former WEC featherweight champion and Hall of Fame level name whose value here is less about current MMA relevance and more about recognition, personality, and a long wrestling base. Tsarukyan also arrives with extra attention after his recent removal from an American Airlines flight on the way to RAF 8 and his later explanation of the “Why are you rude?” exchange over the empty seat.
Arman Tsarukyan and Urijah Faber got into it before their wrestling match 😬
🗣️ “Don’t talk a lot, okay? I’m gonna hurt your neck tomorrow. Do your insurance today.”
🗣️ “Spoiled brat. The woman you’re paying to hang out with you is married, by the way.”
(via @JakeNoecker) pic.twitter.com/7k209JeLtQ
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) April 17, 2026
😂 Arman Tsarukyan tells Urijah Faber he will give him two points on their wrestling match:
“I’ll get 10 points but will give you 2 points because you’re 47. Armenians respect age.”
🎥 @ArmanUfc pic.twitter.com/P5wyANwE9r
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) April 17, 2026
Merab and Cejudo brought the real edge
The main event face-off had actual history behind it. Merab Dvalishvili already beat Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 in February 2024, taking a unanimous decision by pushing a pace Cejudo could not consistently match. That matters here because this is not two random names getting tossed into a novelty format. Merab already solved part of this puzzle once, even if freestyle wrestling asks different questions.
Cejudo tried to grab some momentum back by yelling, “10-0, you’re done!” at Dvalishvili during the face-off. Merab mostly laughed and stayed loose. That tracks with how he usually handles this stuff. He is chaos with lungs, and he has spent the last few years drowning top bantamweights with pressure, scrambles, and absurd gas tank abuse. He also comes in after saying he is trying to stay active despite breaking his nose again and avoiding surgery.
Cejudo owns the cleaner freestyle pedigree because Olympic gold is Olympic gold, but Merab has built his game around making good wrestlers miserable over time. That is why the card works. Tsarukyan and Faber gave fans the weird sideshow energy. Merab and Cejudo gave RAF 8 something closer to real competitive heat.
Watch the full face-offs below:
