UFC lightweight veteran Arman Tsarukyan has just been booked to take a grappling match against fellow MMA fighter Makkasharip Zaynukov at Pit Submission Series 12 on May 2nd, 2025. Tsarukyan is no stranger to competitive grappling of course and long before he ever started his MMA career, he had a ton of experience in freestyle wrestling. He’s used those skills to great effect in MMA but he’s also proven himself to be a submission threat as well. Although he doesn’t have as much competitive Jiu-Jitsu experience, he did once win gold in the expert division at a local NAGA tournament in Los Angeles.
Tsarukyan has shared the cage with some of the best grapplers in the world during his UFC career too, even weathering the storm of some of the best submission attempts that Charles Oliveira could throw at him. His opponent Zaynukov has had almost as much experience in the cage but hasn’t fought at the same level as Tsarukyan, spending most of his 20-fight career on the regional MMA circuit. He did recently win in his PFL debut though, and he might be about to earn even bigger opportunities in the future if he can get a win over Tsarukyan here.
It’s great matchmaking from the minds behind Pit Submission Series and it’s likely that fans will see plenty of wrestling exchanges, as neither man will want to play guard. This isn’t the only match booked for Pit Submission Series 12 either, as Iranian beach wrestler Pouya Rahmani is returning after beating Kaynan Duarte at the promotion’s fourth event. Rahmani will also be facing a PFL veteran, the undefeated heavyweight contender Slim Trabelsi. It’s another match that will likely be contested primarily on the feet, as both men are talented wrestlers and nobody wants either of these two heavyweights on top of them.
Pit Submission Series announced the news that Arman Tsarukyan would be facing Makkasharip Zaynukov at their next event in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
