Learning More about RAF from Izzy Martinez

Yesterday, FloWrestling’s “Bader Show” featured an interview with Izzy Martinez, who in addition to coaching his club, and in the UFC, is one of the key figures involved with Real American Freestyle (RAF). The bulk of the interview centered around RAF and their upcoming first show, RAF 01. The event will take place on August 30th in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Wolstein Center.

Aside from match announcements and signings, the general public hasn’t learned too much about RAF; however, Izzy was able to connect some of the dots during his interview with Mark Bader.

Here are some of the highlights of the interview - items that may not have been known by wrestling fans prior to this interview.

• By and large, USAW/UWW freestyle rules will be used. Martinez doesn’t want world class wrestlers to have to learn an entirely new set of rules while simultaneously chasing world/Olympic titles.
• One of the differences between USAW/UWW and RAF will be that RAF matches will be three two-minute periods rather than two three-minute periods. They believe this will allow the commentators and production team to add more color and perhaps show replays.
• The other main difference between the current international rules and RAF is that the RAF match criteria will be “last wrestler to score” in the event of a tie. In an attempt to make things easier to comprehend for new fans (and most hardcore fans), you don’t have to worry about remembering who had two step-outs compared to one takedown.
• There will be an “Izzy Farm System” for wrestlers that may not be quite ready for a card that includes world medalists and NCAA champions
• There will be belts awarded and champions in each weight class - eight for the men and four for the women
• At RAF 01, seven men’s belts will be awarded and two women’s belts. I imagine there will not be a belt awarded at 155 lbs since there are two matches at that weight on the card (Gomez/Palmer, Diakomihalis/Punia)
• The possibility of performance-related bonuses is out there. Izzy likened it to UFC Fight of the Night or Knockout of the Night bonuses.
• The event will feature a day-before weigh-in in conjunction with a press conference
• Izzy would not rule out Gable Steveson being involved with a future event and seemed rather optimistic about the possibility.
• Izzy said there have been efforts to talk to Jordan Burroughs about competing; however, he is more interested in picking Martinez’s brain regarding youth coaching. Martinez did say Burroughs basically has an “open invitation” to RAF.
• Future events Martinez mentioned include one on the first weekend of October, a November event in Pennsylvania, and a New Year’s Eve event
• Martinez did not say which bout will be considered the main event; however, he did mention that Olympic medalists Sarah Hildebrandt and Kennedy Blades’ bouts will be featured prominently
• They are working to ensure that Hulk Hogan’s Real American Beer will be available at the event
• There will be an afterparty for the RAF 01 event, which will have a famous performer involved
• Ben Askren was initially slated to compete, but his health issues have put a damper on that. Even so, Askren has been very involved in behind-the-scenes brainstorming
• On air, Bader agreed to a match with UFC Hall of Famer Clay Guida with a “Hair vs. Hair” stipulation where the loser gets their hair cut.
• Wrestlers will be encouraged to show personality, celebrate, and conduct themselves like other sports regularly do
• Martinez and those behind the scenes have been impressed as they have received more interest from mainstream sports media outlets than they initially expected at this point in time
   

As a reminder, here are the confirmed matchups for RAF 01

• Matt Ramos vs. Nathan Tomasello  (135 lbs)
• Real Woods vs. Darrion Caldwell  (145 lbs)
• Austin Gomez vs. Lance Palmer (155 lbs)
• Wyatt Hendrickson vs. Mostafa Elders (285 lbs)
• Sarah Hildebrandt vs. Zeltzin Hernandez Guerra  (120 lbs)
• Kennedy Blades vs. Alejandra Rivera Arriaga  (150 lbs)
• Kyle Dake vs. Aeoden Sinclair (190 lbs)
• Evan Wick vs. Jason Nolf (175 lbs)
• Bo Nickal vs. Jacob Cardenas  (205 lbs)
• Yianni Diakomihalis vs. Bajrang Punia  (155 lbs)