Arman Tsarukyan is staying active while waiting for his shot at UFC gold.
The Armenian fighter has found ways to stay busy outside the Octagon as he waits for a title opportunity that many fans believe is already overdue.
After missing out on a place in the interim lightweight title fight at UFC 324, Tsarukyan kept up the pace by taking part in wrestling and submission grappling events.
He's been especially busy with Real American Freestyle, where 'Ahalkalakets' has lined up another appearance against former Bellator fighter Darrion Caldwell.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Tsarukyan defeated MMA legend Urijah Faber last time out at RAF 08 in Philadelphia. The new wrestling organization's next event comes in Texas on May 30, and the top UFC lightweight contender will also be involved.
On a card that features Gable Steveson's RAF debut, as well as outings for Colby Covington and Merab Dvalishvili, Tsarukyan will wrestle influencer Mugzy.
That contest was only recently added to the schedule, but the Armenian already knows who he'll face next. On Thursday, RAF took to social media to confirm that Tsarukyan will face UFC icon Tony Ferguson at their tenth event on June 13th.
The match is one of two confirmed so far for RAF 10, which takes place in St. Louis just a day before the UFC holds an event at the White House in Washington D.C.
Pico just picked up his first win in the UFC back in April against Julio Arce. Palmer lost his promotional debut to Sodiq Yusuff a couple of months earlier.
This will mark both Ferguson's and Pico's first appearances with Real American Freestyle. Ferguson has been active outside of the octagon since parting ways with the promotion after enduring their longest-ever losing streak.
In August of last year, Ferguson got off to a winning start by knocking out Salt Papi at Misfits 22. That win gave him the interim Misfits middleweight title, which he later unified by beating Warren Spencer four months later.
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