Arman Tsarukyan gave up a surprising four-point throw but he made up for that in rapid-fire fashion after a takedown and several consecutive rolls to rack up a 16-5 lead for a tech fall victory over Mugzy to kick off RAF 9 on Saturday.
The top-ranked UFC lightweight contender had a surprising place on the card but showed why he’s quickly becoming the face of the organization with another impressive win. While Mugzy was able to get a slick throw, Tsarukyan countered with a beautiful single-leg takedown before wrapping the legs for several consecutive turns to tack on points in succession.
Once he reached a 10-point lead, that ended the match with the final score 16-5 in favor of Tsarukyan.
Afterwards, Tsarukyan wasted no time turning his attention towards Colby Covington, who competes in the RAF 9 co-main event against Chris Weidman.
“I feel great,” Tsarukyan said after the win. “I knew I’m going to win. I’ve got to give a little bit to these guys. Shout out to Mugzy. Thank you for coming.
“We’ve got tonight Colby Covington, I hope he’s going to win and I’m going to whoop his ass. I’m going to show who is the best MMA wrestler on the mats.”
It didn’t take long for Tsarukyan to score a pushout and then he snatched leg to bring Mugzy down to the ground for his first takedown. Tsarukyan then earned a turn on the mat as he sought a potential pin but Mugzy resisted, although he was down 5-0 early in the first period.
A second later, Mugzy pulled off a nasty throw as he turned to earn four points to put him back in the match.
There was a brief chippy moment after another pushout with Tsarukyan briefly bumping Mugzy with a head butt but nothing crazy happened.
On the restart, Tsarukyan delivered the perfectly timed takedown that allowed him to wrap up Mugzy’s legs as he started twisting and turning to score multiple points to end the match. The competition was close for a matter of seconds but Tsarukyan ultimately dominated to score the first round win.
Tsarukyan remains undefeated under the RAF banner and now he’ll surely turn his attention towards the co-main event with hopes that he could face off with Covington next.
