Tsarukyan Books Danis Title Fight Weeks After UFC 331

Arman Tsarukyan will compete for a Real American Freestyle title two weeks after his UFC 331 co-main event.

The UFC lightweight contender faces Dillon Danis for the RAF middleweight crossover championship on Oct. 3 at Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, the wrestling promotion announced Monday. Tsarukyan (23-3) is scheduled to fight Mauricio Ruffy on Sept. 19 in Los Angeles less than a month before the RAF title shot, as Sherdog and BJPenn.com both reported.

Tsarukyan Chasing RAF Gold After Covington Loss

Tsarukyan has stayed busy on the wrestling circuit while waiting for his UFC title opportunity, compiling a 14-1 record across 15 grappling matches over the past two years. His lone defeat came against Colby Covington in July at an RAF event. He stopped Dan Hooker by submission at UFC Qatar in November but has not competed in mixed martial arts since.

Danis enters the title fight on a two-match RAF losing streak. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist dropped a decision to Covington in March before falling to former UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev in June. He holds a 3-0 MMA record and faces Mike Perry at Duel Arena 1 on Aug. 29 in Orlando before the Tsarukyan matchup.

RAF 14 will stream live on Fox Nation. The full card is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.

Original reporting:

• sherdog.com — Arman Tsarukyan vs. Dillon Danis booked for RAF 14
• bjpenn.com — Arman Tsarukyan booked for Dillon Danis title fight just weeks after UFC 331 co-main | BJPenn.com