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RAF 06 marred by brawl between Arman Tsarukyan-Georgio Poullas

IMG_6598by: Nick Kosko15 hours agonickkosko59

A brawl broke out at RAF 06 after the Arman Tsarukyan–Georgio Poullas match in the co-main event. Already chippy during the match, won 5-3 by Tsarukyan, the action didn’t end there.

After Tsarukyan defended the last takedown attempt from Poullas, he shoved him and then threw a punch while Poullas was on the ground. Then, chaos ensued.

Both corners jumped onto the stage, the brawl continued all over the mat and nearly found its way backstage. You can see in the video below.

“Today was an incredible event,” CEO Chad Bronstein said afterwards. “You know, it was electric. We had some of the best athletes around. And, you know, there was an unfortunate event. We’re not going to really comment on that. We still have to review the tape and make an assessment on exactly what happened. So I’m not going to really go into that. I want to focus on the matches and some of the, you know, the great outcomes. So I’ll leave it at that …

“I think it’s important on that point is that we’re a family. We pride ourselves in being a family friendly combat sport, right? We don’t go out and try to have these kind of situations happen. We’re on six events, not even a blip. So it’s gonna happen unfortunately … We gotta figure out and make sure it doesn’t.”

In an uneven night for the organization, Tsarukyan won his second match at Real American Freestyle. Wrestling Poullas, a former Cleveland State wrestler and very popular social media figure, the bout was an odd one off the bat.

Poullas’ shtick online is he offers $1,000 to take him down to random people in the street, fellow wrestlers and other gym members. He’s never been taken down in his videos. Of course, that doesn’t count his college and high school career.

Tsarukyan, the No. 1 contender in the UFC’s lightweight division, defeated Lance Palmer 10-0 via tech fall in January at RAF 05. But, this match got ugly as there were numerous stoppages due to hard clubs and collar ties, too many instances of hands to the face and more.

The emotions spilled over at the end to mar what was otherwise a near, if not completely, sold out event in Tempe. There were plenty of instances of confusion with the rules, especially some tweaks that were in play with grounding. Poullas also appeared to be taken down by Tsarukyan but it was ruled a push out point.

In the main event, 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist and former two-weight UFC champion Henry Cejudo defeated UFC Hall of Fame Urijah Faber via tech fall 11-0. Welterweight champion David Carr also defended his belt, beating 2011 NCAA champion Bubba Jenkins via tech fall 13-2.

RAF 07 is scheduled for March 28th at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. Kyle Dake, the current cruiserweight champion, is scheduled to wrestle 2024 NCAA champion and three-time finalist Parker Keckeisen in the main event. 2025 NCAA champion and World Team member Wyatt Hendrickson will defend his heavyweight belt against Wisconsin All-American Trent Hilger. If you want to see how loaded the card for RAF is next month, American staple Kyle Snyder will wrestle Akhmed Tazhudinov in a light-heavyweight bout.