Arman Tsarukyan will return to the Real American Freestyle mat as the co-main event attraction at RAF 08 in Philadelphia, where he meets MMA Hall of Famer Urijah Faber in a lightweight freestyle wrestling showcase on April 18 at the Liacouras Center.
Arman Tsarukyan vs Urijah Faber
Real American Freestyle officials have tabbed Tsarukyan vs. Faber as the co-headliner for RAF 08, which is branded around the bantamweight clash between Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo. The event is scheduled for April 18, 2026, at Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, with an 8:00 p.m. local start time and live streaming on FOX Nation.
Tsarukyan enters Philadelphia in the middle of a packed competitive calendar that now includes four straight RAF appearances. The 29-year-old is the No. 2-ranked UFC lightweight and a top-15 name on the promotion’s pound-for-pound list, and he has treated the freestyle league as an active side track while staying in position as an alternate for the June UFC lightweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje at the White House card.
Urijah Faber, 46, brings his own legacy as a former WEC champion and UFC Hall of Famer, coming off a technical-fall loss to Cejudo in his RAF debut at RAF 6 in February.
Tsarukyan’s slate in Real American Freestyle began at RAF 5 in January, when he routed former PFL champion Lance Palmer by technical fall, 10–0 in the first period. He then turned around for RAF 6 on February 28 in Tempe, where he outpointed Georgio Poullas in a heated match that ended 5–3 and became one of the focal talking points from the card. Less than a month later, at RAF 7 in Tampa, Tsarukyan ran back the Poullas matchup and pulled away with a 9–3 win after a late takedown, pushing his RAF record to 3–0 heading into Philadelphia.
Arman Tsarukyan and Georgio Poullas Set to Run It Back. [Image via @arm_011 on Instagram]
Faber’s path into this co-main slot runs through Cejudo. RAF 6 in Tempe featured an Olympic champion vs. MMA pioneer headline pairing, where Cejudo stopped Faber under freestyle rules and set up his own momentum heading into the Merab matchup at RAF 08. For Faber, RAF 08 offers a chance to rebound on a big stage against a contender who is operating near the top of the UFC lightweight division while logging extra mat time in another promotion.
The co-main booking forced a shift lower on the lineup, with Cayden Henschel moving off the originally slated meeting with Faber and instead drawing Lance Palmer in a lightweight bout. Henschel has already built a small but busy RAF résumé, including wins over veteran Clay Guida at RAF 3 in November 2025 and a January outing against Bo Bassett at RAF 5, where he earned an 11–0 result over Guida and a 14–4 scoreline against Bassett. Palmer, meanwhile, is looking to bounce back from the lopsided technical-fall defeat against Tsarukyan at RAF 5 in Sunrise, Florida.
RAF 08
RAF 08 is headlined by Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo in a bantamweight main event, marking Dvalishvili’s promotional debut after a long run in MMA that turned him into a top bantamweight contender. Cejudo steps into that slot already entrenched as one of RAF’s central figures thanks to his win over Faber and his profile as a former UFC two-division champion and Olympic gold medalist.
The promotion has announced that RAF 08 will feature a multi-fight lineup, with the Liacouras Center becoming the latest major arena to host the league as it pushes into new markets. Beyond Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo, Tsarukyan vs. Faber and Henschel vs. Palmer, additional matchups are expected to fill out the undercard, with Real American Freestyle signalling more announcements in the lead-up to April 18.
