Arman Tsarukyan is not waiting around for the UFC to make up its mind. The lightweight contender is set to face Urijah Faber in the co-main event of Real American Freestyle 8 on April 18 in Philadelphia, giving him another high-profile grappling matchup while he remains stuck in that strange space between elite contender and unavailable title challenger. Tsarukyan has stayed busy outside the UFC instead of letting his name cool off, and that has been obvious for a while in the way he has kept talking about the division and competing whenever he gets the chance, including his earlier comments about the ground game in the lightweight race.
The announcement came from the promotion this week. RAF 8 will air on Fox Nation, and the event already had a recognizable headliner with Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo. That matchup had already given the card some crossover juice before Tsarukyan got added, and now the event looks even more like a UFC side quest card than a standard wrestling showcase.
Tsarukyan is coming off a win over Georgio Poullas at RAF 7 on March 28. That pushed him to 3-0 in RAF competition, following earlier wins over Poullas and Lance Palmer. Since his victory over Dan Hooker in the UFC Qatar main event last November, he has kept himself in the conversation through grappling and wrestling appearances instead of going quiet. One of those outings included a submission grappling win over Muhammad Mokaev, another reminder that his ground game is a real problem for just about anybody at that weight.
Tsarukyan gets a legend, but Faber gets a rough draw
Faber was originally scheduled to face Cayden Henschel, but that matchup changed and Tsarukyan stepped in. Henschel is now expected to meet Palmer on the same card. Even with Faber long removed from his peak MMA years, he is still a major name and still a credible grappling attraction. The UFC Hall of Famer made his RAF debut on Feb. 28, where he lost to Henry Cejudo by technical fall.
This matchup is a rough draw for Faber. Tsarukyan is in his prime, he is staying active, and he remains one of the most dangerous lightweights in the sport even while his UFC path stays cloudy. That has been part of the story since the fallout from his scrapped title shot against Islam Makhachev and the tension around his outside appearances, including the backlash that followed his earlier RAF incident and the way the UFC publicly reacted to it.
Watch the matchup announcement below.
NO APRIL FOOLS HERE
Arman Tsarukyan vs Urijah Faber at RAF08.
Tickets in bio. Stream exclusively on @foxnation pic.twitter.com/aUgJIOV4OI
— Real American Freestyle (@RAFWrestlingUSA) April 1, 2026
The bigger issue is where this leaves Tsarukyan in the UFC picture. He has remained visible and active since pulling out of his scheduled title fight against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 in January 2025. The promotion has not rushed him back into a clear contender fight, so he has built his own momentum elsewhere. That does not replace an Octagon booking, but it does keep his name in the mix and keeps attention on a fighter who still belongs near the top of the division.
