Tsarukyan calls for GSP return after RAF title win over Danis in Las Vegas

Arman Tsarukyan added an RAF middleweight crossover title to his MMA credentials on Friday night in Las Vegas, dominating Dillon Danis in a lopsided bout before setting his sights on a dream matchup with retired UFC legend Georges St-Pierre.

The UFC’s No. 1 lightweight contender was dominant throughout his RAF debut against Danis, and wasted little time in mapping out his ambitions for the promotion once the belt was secured.

“We’ve got a lot of names here, but I’m focusing on MMA fighters with the big names,” Tsarukyan said. “I don’t want to just wrestle with no names, I want to collect all big names, all the best fighters, so a lot of UFC fighters, good fighters signed. So we’ll see, maybe GSP, they can bring in GSP, I would like to wrestle him.”

Tsarukyan arrives in RAF off the back of one of the most consistent runs in the UFC’s lightweight division, posting 11 wins from his last 12 fights for the promotion. His résumé includes victories over Charles Oliveira, Beneil Dariush, Dan Hooker, and Mauricio Ruffy, yet he insisted that winning the RAF belt ranks among his proudest achievements.

“This for me ranked No. 1 because I won the title,” he said. “No matter vs. who, he could be not the best wrestler that I wrestled here in this organization, but he has a lot of followers. He can bring a lot of views, so to win this belt it means a lot for me and I’m so excited to defend as much as possible.”

The build-up to the bout featured the pre-event physicality that has become a fixture of RAF fight nights, and tensions appeared to linger into the final moments when Tsarukyan stepped on Danis after the contest. Tsarukyan, however, was relaxed about the incident afterwards.

“He’s OK because he knows what’s going to happen if he’s going to do something,” he said. “We were ready for that.”

Beyond the GSP ambition, Tsarukyan’s RAF calendar could soon take him home. RAF co-founder Bronstein announced on Friday that the promotion is targeting a January 9 event in Armenia, with Tsarukyan expected to headline — contingent on his availability.

“We want to go to Armenia,” Bronstein said. “Armenians have been great to RAF. They come, they support us. Arman’s been with us… so we want to go and support it there and host an amazing event.”