Arman Tsarukyan responds after throwing Faber off stage at RAF 8
Arman Tsarukyan drove Urijah Faber clean off the wrestling stage at RAF 8 during a takedown attempt that ended with both fighters crashing onto concrete below.
The sequence unfolded midway through their match with Tsarukyan already ahead 8-1 on points. He secured a single leg and drove Faber backwards, trying for a scoring takedown that would have clinched the bout. Instead, according to MMA Fighting, both athletes went flying past the commentary table and hit the floor. Neither suffered injuries and the match resumed moments later.
Tsarukyan calls stage incident unintentional
“I don’t control myself so much so if something happens, it’s not like I was thinking about [throwing him off the stage],” Tsarukyan said at the post-event press conference, per MMA Fighting. “Something that happened from my mind. It comes right away.” He later added, “No, how can I throw him on purpose? He’s an OG.”
When the action restarted, Tsarukyan snatched another takedown and landed a four-point throw to finish 13-1 via technical superiority. The win improved his RAF record to 3-0 and kept him unbeaten in the freestyle wrestling promotion.
RAF executive Izzy Martinez was less enthusiastic about the viral moment. “Pushing a guy off the stage is pretty dirty to me and I’m not a big fan of that,” Martinez told reporters. “I didn’t like it on my end, even though it was viral.”
Tsarukyan acknowledged the publicity value after the match. “Thank god, Urijah didn’t get hurt and we went viral,” he said. “We need that.” The top-ranked UFC lightweight also challenged Colby Covington to a future RAF bout, with Covington indicating to MMA Fighting that he would postpone his scheduled May match against Chris Weidman to accept.
Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash
Original reporting:
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