Cerrone Warns Pettis About Tsarukyan After Pulling Out of RAF 15

Anthony Pettis now meets Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 15, and Donald Cerrone, whose spot Tsarukyan took, has told Pettis to be careful. Cerrone calls the late matchup "dangerous".

Cerrone's warning to Pettis

Cerrone spoke about it on BetOnline's The Fight Guys podcast. Once word spread that Tsarukyan would step in, he got in touch with Pettis, his former UFC rival, and passed on his concerns.

He wished Pettis luck and called Tsarukyan a good wrestler. The trouble, in his view, is behavior. As an example he named the moment Tsarukyan threw Urijah Faber off the stage.

Cerrone said he would not stand for that kind of conduct himself: "There are just little things that he does that would just abhor me."

Tsarukyan's run on the RAF mats

Tsarukyan, a top UFC lightweight, has been an active part of Real American Freestyle's first year. He has beaten Faber and Dillon Danis there. Each win came with scuffles after the match.

How Cerrone ended up out

Cerrone had been booked against Pettis at RAF 15 later this month. It would have ended a five-year gap in his combat sports appearances. He withdrew and described the reason as a family emergency.

Pettis beat him twice during their UFC careers. Tsarukyan came in on short notice, and Pettis was rebooked against him.

Gaethje and a possible RAF return

Cerrone told the podcast he expects to be back on the RAF mats soon. Tsarukyan is likely next for UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, if Gaethje decides to keep fighting. Cerrone is a good friend of Gaethje.

Our View

Nothing in the report speaks to how Pettis and Tsarukyan will fare as wrestlers. Cerrone's complaints are about what Tsarukyan does around a match, not inside it.

The bigger gap is Cerrone's own comeback. No date or opponent is given, so only a new RAF card announcement would show whether it is real.

Source: BJPenn.com