Arman Tsarukyan Suplexes an Influencer — The BJJ Angle
Arman Tsarukyan doesn't have a UFC date on the calendar yet, so he went and found one in India instead — and in the process gave BJJ and Jiu Jitsu fans a two-minute clinic that was over almost…
Arman Tsarukyan doesn't have a UFC date on the calendar yet, so he went and found one in India instead — and in the process gave BJJ and Jiu Jitsu fans a two-minute clinic that was over almost before it started. The top-ranked UFC lightweight traveled overseas on Saturday to face fitness influencer Ankit Baiyanpuria in a grappling match, and he didn't need long to make his point.
What actually happened
The match lasted less than three minutes. Tsarukyan took control on the feet first, then launched Baiyanpuria into the air with a suplex — the kind of moment built for a highlight reel — before immediately transitioning into an armbar on the way down. Baiyanpuria tapped just over two minutes in. Watch the finish on X and you'll see the whole sequence takes maybe four seconds from launch to tap: throw, land in top position, isolate the arm, done.
Nobody watching expected a different outcome. Tsarukyan is a top-five UFC lightweight who has spent recent months competing under Real American Freestyle (RAF), tuning his wrestling against legitimate grapplers. Baiyanpuria is a fitness content creator with a large following and, presumably, very little formal grappling instruction. The value of the match was never in the suspense — it was in watching a world-class athlete execute a takedown-to-submission chain at full speed against someone who had no answer for it.
A familiar trend, with a Jiu Jitsu twist
Matches between elite grapplers and internet personalities aren't new — Larry Wheels has taken his lumps against much smaller BJJ black belts, and plenty of MMA fighters have run similar exhibitions against influencers looking to test themselves. What makes Tsarukyan's version worth a second look is the finishing sequence itself. He didn't just out-wrestle Baiyanpuria and collect the win on points or a mount hold-down. He finished with an armbar — one of Jiu Jitsu's oldest and most fundamental submissions — off a scramble that started on the feet.
That detail matters more than the mismatch does. It's a reminder that even at the very top of MMA, where wrestling and striking dominate the highlight reels, the finishing tools that close out fights still trace straight back to Jiu Jitsu. A suplex gets you the position. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is what turns that position into a tap.
Why this matters if you're not fighting for a UFC title
For the rest of us training a few nights a week, the lesson isn't "go find a bigger opponent to slam." It's about what happens in the gap between a dominant position and a finished submission — the part most white belts rush through. Tsarukyan didn't pause to admire the suplex. He moved directly into isolating the arm, the same way your instructor keeps reminding you to do after a takedown or a sweep. Landing on top is only valuable if you know exactly what comes next, and that's a Jiu Jitsu problem, not a wrestling one.
It's also worth remembering how quickly a fight can end once a real submission artist gets an opening. Baiyanpuria never had a chance to establish a base, a frame, or a defense — because two minutes wasn't enough time for someone without a grappling background to even recognize what was coming. That's the gap that regular mat time closes. The techniques on display here are taught in the first few months at most Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academies; the difference is entirely in the reps.
What's next for Tsarukyan
With the exhibition behind him, attention shifts back to the octagon. Tsarukyan is riding a five-fight win streak and is widely viewed as the top contender at 155 pounds, though he appears to need one more win before a title shot materializes — reigning champion Justin Gaethje isn't expected back in the cage until 2027, a gap that may be exactly why Tsarukyan keeps saying yes to matches like this one in the meantime. In his post-fight interview he also floated interest in a future matchup with Dillon Danis, so this almost certainly won't be his last side quest before a UFC date lands.
Either way, it was a two-minute reminder that even fighters built on wrestling still finish with Jiu Jitsu when it counts.
See you on the mats.
Original report via BJJEE.