RAF 14: Tsarukyan beats Danis for crossover title, wants GSP; Liddell urges punishment

Tsarukyan got the belt and the shutout, but the week around RAF 14 was defined by what happened outside the scoring, and RAF has not yet said how it will respond.

The trouble began at the Thursday press conference, where Danis mocked Tsarukyan's teammate Khamzat Chimaev and Tsarukyan attacked him. In the main event he ended it in the first period, then stepped on Danis as security moved in. The two shook hands afterward, and Tsarukyan says the beef is squashed: "He's OK because he knows what's going to happen if he's going to do something." Chuck Liddell told TMZ Sports that someone has to be punished. Sherdog reported that video appears to show a spectator kicking Danis after the loss.

Danis, 33, is now 0-3 in RAF wrestling, after earlier losses to Colby Covington and Chimaev. Jon Jones mocked him on Instagram. Dana White, asked about the brawl at the UFC 333 press conference, said a fight breaks out every time Danis shows up somewhere. Asked about Chimaev's RAF match in Abu Dhabi, he said there is no relationship between RAF and the UFC. He had "no idea" whether active UFC fighters are barred from wrestling each other elsewhere.

Tsarukyan, 30, is already looking past Danis. He is the UFC's No. 1 lightweight contender, coming off a first-round elbow KO of Mauricio Ruffy on Sept. 19. He says the UFC has promised a title shot in February or March 2027. In RAF he wants "big names" and said he would like to wrestle St-Pierre, though nobody has said St-Pierre is interested. He also dismissed Jordan Burroughs, who was upset by Mikey Caliendo on the same card: "there's no point to wrestle him now."

What to watch: Tsarukyan's next match is a catchweight bout against Neiman Gracie at RAF Abu Dhabi on Nov. 14, not a title defense. RAF co-founder Bronstein said an Armenia show is eyed for Jan. 9 if Tsarukyan can headline. Chimaev meets Covington on the same Nov. 14 Abu Dhabi show.

 

[Scheels]

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