Jed MeshewThu, March 12, 2026 at 3:17 AM UTC·1 min readThis is the live blog for Arman Tsarukyan vs. Muhammad Mokaev, the submission grappling match that goes down on Wednesday evening at Hype Brazil in the Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
One of the top MMA fighters in the world today, Tsarukyan has been left out of the UFC lightweight title picture for the time being, and so instead has occupied much of his time recently with combat sports side quests. Last year, Tsarukyan competed four times in various grappling events, and in 2026, he’s already competed at two different RAF events. Now, Tsarukyan returns to the grappling game for a 10-minute submission-only match with Mokaev.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFormerly a top flyweight in the UFC, Mokaev left the promotion in 2024 after the UFC failed to re-sign him, despite a 7-0 record in the promotion. Since then, Mokaev has plied his trade in other organizations, adding three more wins to his undefeated MMA record. But for all his success in MMA, Mokaev has not had the same luck in grappling competitions, going 0-2 in his two grappling bouts in 2024. He hopes to get his first win against Tsarukyan, but faces an uphill battle as Mokaev should be facing a substantial size disadvantage.
Follow along with the Tsarukyan vs. Mokaev live blog below.
Preamble
Let’s be real, this event has been completely ludicrous. There was an impromptu fight, Valter Walker’s been making stuff up, a near-brawl. All sorts of stuff. But now we’re here to the main event.
Let’s go? Let’s go!
