Arman Tsarukyan's Next Fight Is a Grappling Match — Not in the UFC

Arman Tsarukyan is competing again this weekend — just not where anyone assumed. Hype Fighting confirmed on social media that the No. 2 UFC lightweight will face Indian fitness influencer Ankit Baiyanpuria in a submission-only grappling match in Armenia this Saturday, a booking that has nothing to do with the promotion that ranks him one spot behind a title shot.

It's the latest sidequest for a fighter who hasn't touched the octagon since November, when he arm-triangled Dan Hooker in the second round of the UFC Qatar main event. That win closed a 17-month layoff dating back to his April 2024 decision over former champ Charles Oliveira at UFC 300, and it should have teed up something big. Instead, Tsarukyan (23-3, 9 KO, 6 SUB) keeps finding work everywhere except under the UFC banner.

The RAF Detour

The grappling match isn't an outlier — it's a pattern. Tsarukyan has fought eight times for RAF, going 7-1, with his only blemish coming earlier this month against Colby Covington in a points loss for the cruiserweight crossover title. That's a busy schedule for someone the UFC theoretically wants front and center in its most stacked division.

Ahead of that RAF 11 bout with Covington, Tsarukyan said he planned to sit down with the UFC the following Monday to sort out his next move. That meeting has come and gone with no announcement, which is why he's now booked for a grappling exhibition instead of a main event. The silence speaks louder than the booking.

What It Means for the Title Picture

Six of Tsarukyan's 23 wins have come by submission, so a grappling showcase against a fitness content creator is at least on-brand. But it's hard to square a top-two lightweight — the man who beat Oliveira — spending his prime on crossover cards and social-media matchups rather than chasing the belt. The division doesn't wait, and neither should he.

For now, the picture is simple: Tsarukyan is fighting Saturday in Armenia, on the mat, against an influencer. Whatever the UFC has planned for its second-ranked 155er, it isn't ready to say. Until it is, the most active lightweight in the top three keeps racking up wins that don't move him an inch closer to gold.