Matches to Make for RAF 12 Participants

RAF 12 marked the one-year anniversary of Real American Freestyle and during that time the organization has produced 13 shows. Our tradition during this time has been to make the next matches for wrestlers after each card. That will carry on with the participants for RAF 12. Of course, some have already been booked for matches on future cards. If that’s the case, I’ll stick with those. Henry Cejudo/Merab Dvalishvili - Round Three These have been two of the most popular MMA members of RAF. Merab took round one in Georgia. Cejudo countered with a quick pin on Saturday. I’m sure that RAF would be interested in making this rivalry a trilogy. Jordan Burroughs - Magomed Kurbanaliev This is an easy one because it’s already booked for the RAF Moscow card on August 5th. Kurbanaliev has a great resume, but hasn’t been in action since 2021, so it will be a step up in competition for Burroughs, but not the same as a current world medalist. Sean Brady - Michael Chandler If Sean Brady is looking to compete again, how about someone who isn’t quite the caliber of the GOAT, Jordan Burroughs? Michael Chandler could be a similar-size matchup. He headlined the RAF 03 card and seemed very interested in competing further in RAF (he actually called out Burroughs). Gable Steveson - Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur I know everyone wants to see the Wyatt Hendrickson rematch. Believe me, I’d like to see it as well. I’m not sure if RAF is ready to go that way, plus Hendrickson has a match with Greg Kerkvliet booked for RAF 13. The two-time Mongolian world medalist Munkhtur is a very difficult matchup for most, but would be a good test for Steveson, who is still focused on MMA. Tony Cassioppi - Taha Akgul We’ve heard rumors of a potential international card in Turkiye. If that’s the case, you have to have the 11-time world/Olympic medalist and Olympic champion Taha Akgul on the card, right? Cassioppi hasn’t shied away from great competition in RAF, so he’d probably be up for it. Kennedy Blades - Vusala Parfianovich Kennedy Blades will also have a quick turnaround and compete on the Moscow card. She’ll square off with U23 world silver medalist Vusala Parfianovich. Parfianovich represented Russia at the non-Olympic World Championships in 2024. Reese Larramendy - Alejandra Rivera You have to give Reese Larramendy credit for stepping up to face her former collegiate teammate, Blades, on extremely short notice on Saturday. She should get rewarded with another match or two in the near future. Alejandra did the same on RAF 01 and defeated Holly Holm, before losing to Blades at RAF 03. Max McEnelly - Khidir Saipudinov Saipudinov appeared at RAF 07 and suffered a loss to Aeoden Sinclair, who also defeated Max McEnelly in the 2025-26 collegiate season (though McEnelly won a national title). Let’s let McEnelly get another win or two before pairing him up with one of the top cruiserweight contenders. Bo Nickal - Kollin Moore I saw Kollin Moore comment in jest about competing in RAF. How about he comes back for real and we get some of the old Penn State/Ohio State rivalry going? Jason Nolf - Ismail Khaniev This match is already set for RAF Moscow and it should be a great one. Ismail Khaniev is a young Russian superstar who just won his second U20 world title last week. Evan Wick - Joey Blaze Considering Wick and Jason Nolf have split matches in RAF, a third match might be an avenue that the organization would explore at some point, but I don’t think it’s now. I’d like to see Joey Blaze get another shot. He looked solid against Nolf in their match at RAF 08 and Nolf has established himself as the champion. Jesse Mendez - Pat Lugo Jesse Mendez looked good in his RAF debut. So far, featherweight hasn’t been an overly deep weight in the organization and other potential contenders have other commitments or may be injured (Andrew Alirez). Lugo saw action at RAF 05 and teched Johnni DiJulius, so how about another Buckeye? Vladimer Khinchegashvili - Anthony Ashnault Khinchegashvili has already appeared in RAF four times, winning two. Both losses have come to active wrestlers at the top of our domestic ladder. How about a compromise between that and his other opponents and a match with Anthony Ashnault? Ashnault gave champion Real Woods a heck of a match at RAF 08. David Carr - Chermen Valiev Salkazanov represented the biggest challenge for David Carr during his four RAF appearances. Let’s keep feeding him top competitors. Speaking of…the Albanian Chermen Valiev was a world silver medalist in 2025. In the quarterfinals, Valiev defeated Carr 7-5. Tajmuraz Salkazanov - Mikey Caliendo Caliendo impressed in his RAF and already has a match booked on the RAF 13 card. Should he get by Timur Bizhoev, Caliendo might be a match away from a title shot. What better way than to have a title eliminator matchup against Salkazanov? Johnni DiJulius - Bryce Meredith Aside from the main event competitors, the loudest crowd pop of the evening at RAF 12 belonged to Johnni DiJulius. His hometown crowd was very supportive and, in his post-match interview, Chael Sonnen mentioned how the organization has big plans for DiJulius. Let’s pair him with a prominent wrestler who is now in MMA, like Bryce Meredith, who was last in action at RAF 06. Asu Almabayev - Cayden Henschel We didn’t really get to see the wrestling skillset from Asu Almabayev, so I’m not sure what direction to go in for the UFC fighter. Perhaps Cayden Henschel, who has found a home with the organization and is 2-2. Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov - Patrick Kennedy Talk about a matchup of contrasting styles. Kadimagmedov is slick and kind of picks his spots to attack. Kennedy is your traditional Iowa-style guy, who is constantly moving forward and tries to physically wear down his opponents. Will Lewan - Wait and see Will Lewan was clearly injured during the first takedown from Kadimagomedov. He tried to give it a go, but his corner stopped the match after a period. Hopefully, it isn’t anything serious. Tyron Woodley - Khamzat Chimaev This match is set for the main event at RAF Moscow. I suppose the bout with Joaquin Buckley was to help ensure Woodley was in shape for the Chimaev match. He looked better as the match progressed, so we’ll see! Joaquin Buckley - Jacobe Smith Jacobe Smith is a rising star, undefeated in MMA, but his base is wrestling. Smith was an All-American for Oklahoma State. What if he returns to the mat for a throw-filled match with Joaquin Buckley. Masanosuke Ono - Rei Higuchi After his RAF debut, Masanosuke Ono called out his Japanese countryman and Olympic gold medalist Rei Higuchi. I think most wrestling fans' response to that would be, “yes, please.” I’ll go with that as well. Higuchi responded to a tweet regarding this potential match with the “big eyes” emoji. I assume that means Higuchi is interested as well. Ben Davino - Matt Ramos Ben Davino has had Senior World medalists in each of his first two RAF appearances. Obviously, he wants to face the best of the best. Matt Ramos hasn’t been in action since RAF 02, so let’s bring him back. This would be a matchup between a pair of Illinois natives.

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