In a submission-only grappling fight at Hype Fighting, Ankit Baiyanpuria, the man whose 75 Hard Challenge videos made him famous throughout India, made his professional combat sports debut against UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan. He was defeated by armbar submission, which was followed by a takedown, a suplex, and a finish that took the Ahalkalakets just three minutes to finish.
Ankit was raised in Bayanpur village, Sonipat district, Haryana, to parents who worked as daily-wage labourers. He trained as a wrestler in local akhadas before injuries derailed those ambitions. He cycled through work as a food delivery rider and content creator before pivoting fully into fitness videos during the pandemic. He built his channel around traditional Haryanvi training methods like sapate and rope work.
His breakthrough came in 2023 when he recorded the 75 Hard Challenge, a rigorous 75-day discipline program, in Hindi. The series took fire, eventually getting the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who invited him to join a public cleanliness drive, and later earned him the Best Health and Fitness Creator award at India's inaugural National Creators Award in 2024. Ankit had over 8 million Instagram followers by the time he entered the ring in Yerevan.
Speaking ahead of the contest to BuzzInContent, Ankit was candid about the gap he was stepping into, framing the fight as part of a longer journey rather than a one-off spectacle: “This is not just a one-off event. As I have said before, this is my first fight, but it will not be my last. I want to progress further in combat sports and will prepare even better for it.” He had trained in Dagestan in preparation, aware that his wrestling background would need to hold up against a far more polished grappler.
Arman wasted no time, scoring back-to-back takedowns inside the opening two minutes in front of his home fans. Ankit, drawing on his wrestling instincts, managed to scramble out of the first couple of submission attempts — a flash of resistance that briefly suggested he might survive the storm.
But it didn't last. Arman turned up the pressure, hoisted the much larger Ankit onto his shoulders, and drove him down with a slamming suplex. From there, he transitioned immediately into an armbar. Ankit tapped almost as soon as the hold was locked in. The whole sequence took under three minutes.
Ankit had said the outcome, whichever way it went, was something he intended to learn from and build on. In the days leading up to the fight, he repeatedly framed his motivation around visibility for Indian combat sports rather than personal glory.
That skepticism found some traction among MMA media covering Arman’s recent run of side quest grappling exhibitions outside the UFC, with some observers noting fatigue around the format. But for a large swath of Indian fans, many watching a combat sports crossover event for the first time, the result mattered less than the fact that Ankit showed up at all.
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