Dake/Makoev Added to RAF 02 Card

One of the stars from the inaugural Real American Freestyle card is back as a match with Kyle Dake was announced for next month’s RAF 02 card. The four-time world champion and two-time Olympic medalist will take on two-time world medalist Boris Makoev.

Makoev was a world finalist in 2017 at 86 kg and a bronze medalist in 2022 at the same weight class. During his run to the 2017 world finals, Makoev defeated J’den Cox 6-3 in the semifinals. In 2022, Makoev fell to Iran’s Hassan Yazdani in the semis.

At the 2025 World Championships, Makoev fell in the Round of 32 to Zahid Valencia’s eventual finals opponent Hayato Ishiguro, by the score of 8-4. He was then beaten by Ukraine’s Mukhammed Aliiev, 14-4.

Last year, Makoev competed at 92 kg and earned a silver medal at the European Championships, which was his best placement at the event.

Although Makoev is Russian, he has represented Slovakia in international competitions since 2017.

The four-time national champion from Cornell, Dake, added another honor to his long list of career achievements in August when he teched Dean Hamiti at RAF 01 for the Cruiserweight title.

2025 marked the first time since 2017 that Dake was not on a World or Olympic team. His US Open and Final X losses to Zahid Valencia look much better considering the fact that Valencia ran through the world championships without surrendering a single point.

Dake won’t have to travel far for RAF 02 as the event takes place in his adopted hometown - State College, Pennsylvania. The event will take place on the Penn State University campus at the Bryce Jordan Center.

With the Dake/Makoev match added to the RAF 02 card, it now looks like this:

Cruiserweight (190 lbs) - Kyle Dake vs. Boris Makoev

Women’s Flyweight (120 lbs) - Helen Maroulis vs. Samantha Stewart

Open - Keelon Jimison vs. Cayden Henschel

Heavyweight (Unlimited) - Patrick Downey III vs. Jake Varner

Bantamweight (135 lbs) - Nathan Tomasello (champ) vs. Roman Bravo-Young

Heavyweight (Unlimited) - Mason Parris vs. Aleksandr Romanov