Just hours before the first bell, the headliner between two of MMA’s best wrestlers was scrapped. What was meant to be a high-profile rematch at RAF 8 between Henry Cejudo and Merab Dvalishvili has been canceled after Cejudo was forced to withdraw due to injury.

The bout between Cejudo and Dvalishvili carried immense intrigue. In their first meeting at UFC 298, Merab won via decision, but this time the setting had shifted to a pure wrestling contest under the RAF banner. Despite both athletes appearing at the pre-event press conference on Friday afternoon, the wrestling match will not happen—at least not tonight. With a gaping hole at the top of the card, RAF officials scrambled for a solution. They found it in another UFC star and elevated the new matchup into the spotlight.

With the sudden change, Arman Tsarukyan vs. Urijah Faber has now been elevated to the main event slot, stepping in as the new headliner at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.

It’s a rapid turnaround for the UFC lightweight star, who has been pretty active in the RAF this year and remains unbeaten in his outings so far. For Faber, it’s another chance to bounce back from his setback against Henry Cejudo earlier this year at RAF 6.

The ripple effect doesn’t end there either. The light heavyweight fight between Kyle Snyder and Rizabek Aitmukhan has been shifted to the co-main event spot, giving the RAF 08 card an entirely new structure on short notice.

This is not how the RAF would have planned it. But with one fight falling apart, another has taken center stage—turning Arman Tsarukyan into the night’s headliner. However, that same headline spot at RAF 08 also means more eyes will be on him, waiting to see if the Armenian can avoid another controversy, something Daniel Cormier has warned him about.

Daniel Cormier tells Arman Tsarukyan to protect his UFC title shot at RAF 08

The unexpected main event spotlight in Philadelphia brings not just opportunity, but also scrutiny. With Arman Tsarukyan now headlining RAF 8, every move he makes will be scrutinized, especially given the momentum he’s building toward a possible UFC title shot. And that’s why Daniel Cormier has stepped in with a warning.

Cormier believes ‘Ahalkalakets’ is closer than ever to getting what he wants, but also pointed out that his biggest threat right now isn’t inside competition; it’s everything outside of it.

He punched a fan at UFC 300, pulled out of UFC 311 in the very last minute, headbutted Dan Hooker, and got into a melee with Giorgio Poullas in their first RAF encounter, and now he got kicked off an American Airlines flight ahead of RAF 08. With a resume of controversies, ‘DC’ warned Arman Tsarukyan of ruining his chances of fighting for the UFC lightweight title.

“It’s what he’s doing outside of the Octagon that is now making Arman Tsarukyan a guy,” he said on his YouTube channel. “I’m telling you, I really know Arman Tsarukyan is now starting to make himself undeniable…(through) all the stuff he’s doing outside of the UFC.

“This is as close as he’s been since (UFC 311). Everything is going great. I told his manager the other day. I said, ‘Just don’t f— this up. Don’t do one thing that kicks you backwards. He’s gotta be very careful.”

But will ‘Ahalkalakets’ pull back on his antics? Well, he will. At least, that’s what Daniel Cormier claims.

“The thing the other day with American Airlines, for us, that’s funny,” Cormier added. “But we need to make sure—Arman told me himself, ‘I’ll be a good boy.’ It’s funny to us, but he’s right at that point now where he’s gotta peel back a little bit, and he’s gonna get exactly what he wants.”

With the UFC lightweight title seemingly within his grasp, Tsarukyan’s biggest opponent at RAF 08 isn’t Urijah Faber—it’s his own discipline. Whether he can maintain it will determine if this headline opportunity is a stepping stone or another stumble.