Arman Tsarukyan was back in action again last night (Sat. May 30, 2026) at Real American Freestyle 9, completely dominating Keelon \u201cMugzy\u201d Jimison 16-5 lead for a tech fall victory in an entertaining but generally pointless affair. Mugzy had nothing for Tsarukyan but a bunch of disrespectful slaps and shoves, which Tsarukyan largely shrugged off.<\/p>\n
There was a moment, though, where \u201cAkhalkalakets\u201d threw a headbutt Mugzy\u2019s way.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe pushed my back and I don\u2019t know why,\u201d Tsarukyan said after the event at a media scrum. \u201cThe referee, we told him he pushed my back, I don\u2019t know why and I headbutted liked a little bit to show, \u2018Don\u2019t play with me,\u2019 you know? Like, \u2018Why are you pushing me?\u2019 Because it\u2019s disrespectful, you know? And then I said, \u2018Sorry, sorry.\u2019 Because I didn\u2019t, like, headbutt hard. Just a little bit, for him to know, like, don\u2019t forget who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
Things will get more interesting for Arman fans in future RAF match-ups. Tsarukyan will face Tony Ferguson in June and now Colby Covington in July.<\/a> As for a return to the actual UFC Octagon? Tsarukyan recently revealed he wouldn\u2019t bother to play backup<\/a> for Topuria vs. Gaethje, and now he estimates he won\u2019t be back in the cage until fall or the end of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m waiting for the White House card, when [Topuria and Gaethje] are going to fight,\u201d Tsarukyan said (video via MMA Junkie).<\/a> \u201cAnd then they are going to announce my next fight, probably September, October, or end of this year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt depends who is going to win. If it\u2019s Ilia, probably the end of this year. If it\u2019s Gaethje, probably September, October.\u201d<\/p>\n Tsarukyan made it clear he had a preference for who he wanted to fight for the lightweight title.<\/p>\n \u201cIlia Topuria. I want to fight Ilia Topuria,\u201d he said. \u201cI think Ilia Topuria [wins], but Justin is an OG and you never know. When he fought with [Rafael] Fiziev, everybody thought he\u2019s young and a good striker and knock him out. But he went there and showed still can compete at the highest level. Same with Paddy Pimblett. So yes, 60-40 [chance Topuria wins].\u201d<\/p>\n Tsarukyan sounded confident he\u2019d fight Topuria next, but also admitted there was a chance the Spanish-Georgian fighter might move up to welterweight to fight Islam Makhachev<\/a> in a battle of the pound-for-pound greats.<\/p>\n \u201cIf UFC let\u2019s him move up, he\u2019s going to move up,\u201d Arman said. \u201cIt\u2019s better to fight with Islam than me, because it\u2019s a third title, big money, and if he loses to Islam, it\u2019s OK. He moves up two weight classes and moves to pound-for-pound [best]. But if he loses to me at 155, he\u2019s going to be gone.\u201d<\/p>\n