Anthony Pettis will challenge Arman Tsarukyan for the RAF middleweight crossover title in the Nov. 28 RAF 15 main event; Cejudo-Song moves to co-main and Cerrone is off.
From 7 reports by 6 outletsLatest Pettis to challenge Tsarukyan in RAF 15 main event; Cerrone out 2 updates 6 outlets
What we know
- Pettis will challenge Tsarukyan for the RAF middleweight crossover title in the RAF 15 main event on Nov. 28 at NOW Arena in the Chicago area.
- Donald Cerrone, Pettis's original RAF 15 opponent, is off the card; no new date or opponent has been mentioned.
- Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong, for the lightweight crossover title, is now the RAF 15 co-main event.
- Tsarukyan still faces Neiman Gracie in a non-title catchweight match at RAF Abu Dhabi on Nov. 14.
- Petriashvili vs. Bastida at RAF 15 is a heavyweight number-one contender match; the winner faces champion Wyatt Hendrickson.
- Pettis has never competed in freestyle wrestling and last fought in any combat sport in 2024, a boxing decision loss to Chris Avila.
Reported, not confirmed
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Danny Sabatello, the RIZIN bantamweight champion, faces Jacob Shultz of RAF Undiscovered at RAF 15 in his home state of Illinois.
Gong Kakutogi
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RAF 15 starts at 7 p.m. Central on Nov. 28 and streams on Fox Nation.
MiddleEasy
Anthony Pettis was booked for a rematch-style debut against an old rival. Instead he gets the hardest assignment RAF has: a freestyle wrestling match against its newest champion, Arman Tsarukyan, with the belt at stake.
Pettis has never competed in freestyle wrestling and has not fought in any combat sport since 2024, when he lost a unanimous decision to Chris Avila in a boxing match. He was a UFC lightweight champion, winning the belt with a first-round submission of Benson Henderson in 2013. That pedigree is in MMA, not wrestling, and his RAF profile shows no recorded matches.
Tsarukyan, 30, won the vacant title at RAF 14 with a 10-0 technical fall over Dillon Danis. He has been building a brand around beating recognizable MMA names, and MMA Mania reports he said he wants to collect as many as possible. Pettis fits that description. His RAF page lists him at 8-1, with the loss to Colby Covington in July.
The champion's schedule is the real story. He wrestles Neiman Gracie in a non-title catchweight match at RAF Abu Dhabi on Nov. 14, which leaves 14 days before the Chicago defense. Away from RAF, his UFC lightweight plans remain open: he says the UFC promised him a title shot in February or March 2027, though nothing is booked.
The reshuffle pushes Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong, for the lightweight crossover title, to the co-main slot. Cerrone is off the card entirely, and no new date or opponent has been given. The card also includes Geno Petriashvili against Yonger Bastida, now a number-one contender match, with the winner to face heavyweight champion Wyatt Hendrickson.
Watch Abu Dhabi first. How Tsarukyan looks against Gracie will shape expectations for a Pettis match that, on paper, heavily favors the champion.
Pettis has never competed in freestyle wrestling and has not fought in any combat sport since 2024, when he lost a unanimous decision to Chris Avila in a boxing match. He was a UFC lightweight champion, winning the belt with a first-round submission of Benson Henderson in 2013. That pedigree is in MMA, not wrestling, and his RAF profile shows no recorded matches.
Tsarukyan, 30, won the vacant title at RAF 14 with a 10-0 technical fall over Dillon Danis. He has been building a brand around beating recognizable MMA names, and MMA Mania reports he said he wants to collect as many as possible. Pettis fits that description. His RAF page lists him at 8-1, with the loss to Colby Covington in July.
The champion's schedule is the real story. He wrestles Neiman Gracie in a non-title catchweight match at RAF Abu Dhabi on Nov. 14, which leaves 14 days before the Chicago defense. Away from RAF, his UFC lightweight plans remain open: he says the UFC promised him a title shot in February or March 2027, though nothing is booked.
The reshuffle pushes Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong, for the lightweight crossover title, to the co-main slot. Cerrone is off the card entirely, and no new date or opponent has been given. The card also includes Geno Petriashvili against Yonger Bastida, now a number-one contender match, with the winner to face heavyweight champion Wyatt Hendrickson.
Watch Abu Dhabi first. How Tsarukyan looks against Gracie will shape expectations for a Pettis match that, on paper, heavily favors the champion.
- Summary
- Anthony Pettis will challenge Arman Tsarukyan for the RAF middleweight crossover title in the Nov. 28 RAF 15 main event; Cejudo-Song moves to co-main and Cerrone is off.
- Key points (one per line)
- Anthony Pettis replaces Donald Cerrone as his RAF debut opponent and instead faces champion Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 15 on Nov. 28.
Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong drops to the co-main event; Cerrone is out of the card.
Tsarukyan still wrestles Neiman Gracie at RAF Abu Dhabi on Nov. 14, two weeks before the Pettis defense.
Geno Petriashvili vs. Yonger Bastida is now a heavyweight title eliminator.
- Also reported by (Name | URL per line)
- MiddleEasy | https://middleeasy.com/brazilian-jiu-jitsu/geno-petriashvili-yonger-bastida-raf15-heavyweight-title-eliminator/
Gong Kakutogi | https://gonkaku.jp/articles/25230
MMA Fighting | https://www.mmafighting.com/raf-wrestling/518094/arman-tsarukyan-wrestles-anthony-pettis-in-main-event-of-raf-15
Knockout Daily | https://knockoutdaily.com/news/anthony-pettis-drops-cerrone-fight-to-chase-arman-tsarukyans-raf-title-in-chicago
Combat Sports UK | https://combatsportsuk.com/news/29c01511-6805-4e91-9bd2-e99255836a91/anthony-pettis-to-challenge-arman-tsarukyan-for-raf-title-at-raf-15
MiddleEasy | https://middleeasy.com/brazilian-jiu-jitsu/arman-tsarukyan-anthony-pettis-raf15-title-november28/
MMA Mania | https://www.mmamania.com/raf-wrestling-schedule-cards-live-results/482241/ufcs-no-1-ranked-lightweight-contender-books-showdown-against-former-division-champion-in-raf-15s-re-worked-main-event
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What they're saying
Fighters in this story
Arman Tsarukyan
Danny Sabatello
Anthony Pettis
Henry Cejudo
Song Yadong
Dillon Danis
Neiman Gracie
Sebastian RiveraMore photos
How the story developed
MMA FightingSources
Knockout Daily
Combat Sports UK
MMA ManiaSummarized with AI from the sources above. Read the originals for the full story.
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