A major disorder erupted at the Real American Freestyle 14 (RAF 14) pre-fight press conference when two UFC fighters were involved in a physical altercation. Controversial MMA fighter Dillon Danis appeared with a provocative T-shirt, prompting a reaction from UFC fighters Arman Tsarukyan and Khamzat Chimaev to engage in a confrontation that forced security to intervene.

For a brief period, the presser remained free from any major disruptions. However, a media member asked Dillon Danis about his controversial T-shirt, which featured Tsarukyan’s teammate Khamzat Chimaev’s beardless face with an aggravating message.

“Khamzat is my b—tch,” Danis said. “This has a picture without his beard.” 

Right after seeing the T-shirt, Tsarukyan lost control. The UFC lightweight contender sprang from his seat and charged towards Danis. The RAF owners, Izzy Martinez and Chad Bronstein, who sat alongside the two UFC fighters, tried their best to hold Tsarukyan back, but the Armenian still managed to throw a punch at Danis.

Security immediately intervened and dragged Tsarukyan away. However, the brawl escalated to a point that prompted Khamzat Chimaev, who’s facing Robbie Lawler at the same event, to jump in.

Chimaev, who’s Tsarukyan’s teammate and a close friend, attempted to climb into the cage in an attempt to confront Danis and defend Tsarukyan. But security ended up stopping the Chechen from involving himself in the already turbulent pandemonium.

The melee continued on the press-conference stage until security finally managed to control it. 

As a result of the altercation, the RAF 14 presser between Arman Tsarukyan and Dillon Danis ended without the two having a face-off. However, the confrontation has a deeper context because Danis’ T-shirt referenced his previous brawl with Chimaev at RAF 10 in June 2026. 

Danis tried to force Chimaev to submit with a submission hold. In a furious reaction, the Chechen kicked Danis, prompting members of both camps to rush to the center and engage in a brawl. Danis’ T-shirt referenced that moment.  

Despite the chaos that unfolded at the presser, RAF 14 will undoubtedly attract more attention when the event gets underway on Friday, October 23, 2026. However, this isn’t the first time the Armenian has been involved in a heated altercation.

In fact, Arman Tsarukyan has been embroiled in a heated rivalry with Georgio Poullas that has also generated a significant amount of animosity.

Arman Tsarukyan was involved in an altercation with Georgio Poullas

Arman Tsarukyan never backs down from a confrontation, even if that means taking things to the next level with his opponent. Something similar happened against grappler Georgio Poullas in February this year.

After a heated build-up and plenty of trash talk, Tsarukyan and Poullas met in the co-main event of RAF 6, where things quickly went out of hand. The freestyle wrestling matchup turned into a dirty contest. Tsarukyan won on points, but he appeared to tackle and punch Poullas right after the whistle, prompting both teams to start a brawl.

Thankfully, security intervened in time and separated both men before any serious damage could occur. However, the rivalry between them reached a boiling point, with allegations flying from both sides.

Poullas called Tsarukyan a “little b—ch” for complaining to the referees during the freestyle wrestling bout and criticized him for punching him right after the match. On the other hand, the Armenian alleged that Poullas had attempted fouls, including eye pokes, finger grabbing, and other dirty tactics to win the bout.

The lingering controversy prompted RAF to organize a rematch to settle their differences. Former UFC welterweight Ben Askren stated that security would be tighter for the rematch to prevent any further brawls.

Tsarukyan and Poullas finally met again in the RAF 7 main event and had a much cleaner clash. In the end, ‘Batman’ secured victory once again, winning 9–3 on points and bringing their heated rivalry to a close.

Keeping those incidents in mind, RAF is expected to tighten security as Tsarukyan faces Danis in his next outing. Otherwise, another massive brawl could unfold when the two UFC fighters finally meet on the freestyle wrestling mat.