Tsarukyan to wrestle Anthony Pettis in RAF 15 main event as Cejudo vs. Song moves down

Arman Tsarukyan will defend his RAF middleweight crossover title against former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis on Saturday, Nov. 28. It's the RAF 15 main event. Real American Freestyle announced the match in a post on X on Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to MMA Junkie.

The event is at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, outside Chicago, according to Sherdog. It streams on Fox Nation, per RAF's website. Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong, which RAF had announced as the headliner less than a week earlier, moves to the co-main event.

Pettis had been booked to wrestle Donald Cerrone on the same card, a third meeting after he beat Cerrone twice in the UFC. That match is gone, and Cerrone is off the card entirely, MMA Fighting reported. RAF's announcement gave no reason, FightBook MMA noted, and none of the reports quotes Cerrone, Pettis or RAF.

Why it matters

Tsarukyan is No. 2 at lightweight in the UFC rankings and has won six straight UFC fights. The latest was a first-round knockout of Mauricio Ruffy on Sept. 19, and he has no UFC fight booked, per his CageOracle page. Pettis will be his third RAF opponent in 36 days: Dillon Danis on Oct. 23, Neiman Gracie on Nov. 14, then Pettis.

Tsarukyan became the first holder of the title at RAF 14 on Oct. 23, according to MMA Sucka. He beat Danis by 10-0 technical fall in Las Vegas, per AgentMMA. The National had him at 7-1 in RAF before that, with five technical falls, so he's 8-1 by our count. His one loss was 5-3 to Colby Covington at RAF 11 in July, per Lowkick MMA.

At the RAF 14 press conference, he explained what he's after, as MMA Sucka reported:

"I'm focusing on the MMA fighters. So, with the big names, I don't want to just wrestle with, uh, no names."

Pettis has never competed in freestyle wrestling, MMA Fighting reported. He's 25-14 as a pro and won the UFC title by submitting Benson Henderson in August 2013. His last UFC fight was in December 2020, per his CageOracle page. His most recent bout was a six-round boxing decision loss to Chris Avila in July 2024.

We think Pettis is in deep trouble. Neither his kicks nor his submissions count in freestyle, he's never wrestled competitively, and six of Tsarukyan's eight RAF wins came by technical fall.

Cejudo vs. Song

This is a rematch. Song beat Cejudo by technical decision at UFC Seattle on Feb. 22, 2025, according to theScore. An accidental eye poke ended it late in the third round. Song closed a −250 favourite, a 68% chance, with Cejudo at +202, per CageOracle's pages for Song and Cejudo.

Cejudo has lost his last four UFC fights, per his CageOracle page, and is no longer with the promotion, according to MMA Sucka. He won the inaugural lightweight crossover title by pinning Merab Dvalishvili in 36 seconds at RAF 12, MMA Sucka reported. That avenged a wrestling loss to Dvalishvili earlier this year. He asked for Song in September, telling MMA Junkie, "Let's put the belt on the line."

Song is No. 3 at bantamweight and has won two straight, submitting Deiveson Figueiredo on May 30 and knocking out Umar Nurmagomedov on Aug. 29. Before that, he lost a decision to Sean O'Malley in January. After UFC 333, Dana White said the next shot at champion Petr Yan is between Song and O'Malley, with nothing decided, according to MMA Sucka.

What's next

Before Chicago, Tsarukyan wrestles Gracie at RAF Abu Dhabi on Nov. 14 at Etihad Arena, a non-title catchweight match, according to The National. Khamzat Chimaev vs. Colby Covington headlines that card.

RAF 15 also has Cayden Henschel vs. Conor Beebe for the featherweight crossover title, and Cody Garbrandt vs. Sergio Pettis, Anthony's younger brother, according to Sherdog.