AFS 1
A new page in the history of Armenian martial arts
- Date
- April 19, 2026
- Venue
- Tashir Arena
- Prize pool
- 15 000 000 ֏
- City
- Yerevan
Fighters
Faces of AFS
Eduard Vartanyan
An ethnic Armenian born in Yerevan, competing under Russian sporting citizenship. One of the most decorated lightweights in the post-Soviet space and a co-founder of ARMAT Fight Show. A combat sambo product — Moscow combat sambo champion in 2008 and a Combat Sambo World Cup winner. In September 2017 at ACB 71 in Moscow he beat Andrey Koshkin by unanimous decision to become the first interim ACB Lightweight Champion in the promotion's history. The headline career title is the 2022 ACA Lightweight Grand Prix. The final ran on June 16, 2023, at ACA 159: Vartanyan stopped Artem Reznikov by TKO in the third. The run pushed him into the world top-15 at lightweight on Fight Matrix and into the Russian P4P top-10. Co-founder of AFS with Armen Gulyan and co-host of the "Fight Show" podcast.
Profile →Arman Tsarukyan
Born to an Armenian family in Akhalkalaki, the Armenian-majority town in southern Georgia — the source of his nickname "Ahalkalakets" ("the one from Akhalkalaki"). The highest-ranked Armenian fighter in the UFC's history and the official ambassador of ARMAT Fight Show. Master of Sport (Russia) in both MMA and freestyle wrestling and an amateur Pankration World Champion. Before signing with the UFC he won the 2018 Tiger Muay Thai Tryouts in Phuket. He debuted in the UFC in April 2019 against Islam Makhachev — who later became the pound-for-pound No. 1 — and lost a competitive unanimous decision in a fight that announced him as a top-of-the-division prospect. Through 2024-25 he locked in as the UFC's No. 2 lightweight: a 64-second KO over Beneil Dariush (2023), a split decision over Charles Oliveira in a UFC Fight Night main event (2024), and a submission over Dan Hooker in a UFC Fight Night main event on November 22, 2025. As of January 2026, ranked No. 2 at lightweight and No. 13 in the UFC men's P4P list. Two Fight of the Night and four Performance of the Night bonuses across his UFC run. Trains at American Top Team (Coconut Creek, Florida) with periodic camps in Yerevan.
Profile →Armen Gulyan
President and head coach of Lion Heart MMA Academy in Yerevan, and co-founder and president of ARMAT Fight Show. An active professional featherweight with a 9-0 undefeated record. His pro career ran mostly on the Russian regional circuit — Fight Nights Global, GFC, and Russian Cagefighting Championship (RCC). Foundations: sambo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. His last documented bout was at RCC 7 in Yekaterinburg on December 14, 2019: a third-round submission over Aleksandr Osetrov. Earlier, at Golden Team Championship 1 in Moscow on November 3, 2017, he TKO'd Artem Kolosov in the first round. The pivot to coaching and promotion is the infrastructure project. Lion Heart MMA Academy is a non-profit social-sports center at Manandyan 33/20 in the Shengavit district of Yerevan; its main gym opened on November 22, 2025. With Eduard Vartanyan he co-founded ARMAT Fight Show. The inaugural AFS 1 ran at Tashir Arena on April 18-19, 2026, with a 15 million dram prize purse — the largest ever in Armenian MMA. He also co-hosts the "Fight Show Podcast" (YouTube @FIGHTSHOW) with Vartanyan.
Profile →AFS is not a tournament. It is a path the Armenian fighter walks from his first session in the gym to the biggest stage — without leaving home.
Armenian MMA should not have to find its stage in Moscow, São Paulo, or Las Vegas. The stage is here.
- 01
Roots
Armat means root. Every AFS fight is an answer to where we come from and why.
- 02
Platform
Amateurs share the same night with professionals. The shortest route from the first sparring session to the big stage.
- 03
Hub
Within five years, the best fighters in the region will train in Yerevan, not Dagestan or Brazil.
Our partners
- Lion Heart AcademyTraining
- Fight Show PodcastMedia
- Tashir ArenaVenue
- Tashir GroupHeadline
- РИО / RIOGold
- Gorilla Energy DrinkGold
- Dalma Garden MallSilver
- Cinema StarSilver