RAF 04: Preview

RAF 04 is upon us. The fourth offering from Real American Freestyle is a fun card that features the RAF debut of two 2025 world champions, along with four title matches, and a massive main event. And it takes place tonight. In addition, there are some big-time names from the MMA world that add some flavor and could bring in some outside eyeballs. Here’s our breakdown of the action taking place tonight in Fishers, Indiana. The card can be seen in its entirety on FoxNation at 7pm (Eastern). Welterweight (165 lbs): Jason Nolf vs. Andy Varela Andy Varela is an MMA fighter who is best known for his grappling prowess. Jason Nolf has ventured into the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but was originally a three-time national champion wrestler for Penn State. He was a 2024 Olympic Trials finalist and one of the most exciting wrestlers of his era. That was on display at RAF 01, where he had some highlight reel exchanges with Evan Wick, despite not having competed on the mat of late. Seeing Nolf perform like that makes it hard to imagine this match being anything other than a tech fall or quick pin. Light Heavyweight (205 lbs): Trent Hidlay vs. Jacob Cardenas Trent Hidlay was one of the first wrestlers announced as having signed with RAF, but this is his debut with the organization. I suppose winning a world championship got in the way! Hidlay had plenty of success at the age-group level; however, this year marked his first Senior world appearance. The Senior world championship debut was quite a memorable one. It concluded with an incredible comeback in the gold medal match at 92 kg. Though Hidlay was never able to come away with a national title in college, he’s already a world champion. Speaking of age group success, Jacob Cardenas is the only American man with three medals from the U23 World Championships. Cardenas has two silvers and a bronze from 2022-24. He was also a three-time NCAA All-American and a Big Ten champion while competing at Cornell and Michigan. Cardenas was a part of the very first RAF card. He squared off with Bo Nickal in the lightweight championship bout. He might have been able to get the win, but was caught on his back while trying a gut wrench and lost, 6-4. These two tangled twice during the 2023-24 season and Hidlay won both contests, 10-2 and 8-2. Cruiserweight (190 lbs): Zahid Valencia vs. Parker Keckeisen Like Hidlay, Zahid Valencia was an early signee by RAF. His world title run also got in the way of potential RAF debuts. Unlike Hidlay, Valencia didn’t need any frantic comebacks to capture his gold medal. He was perhaps the most dominant men’s freestyle champion in 2025. Valencia did not surrender a point in any of his five matches and outscored the competition, 49-0. Just two make the 2025 World Team, Valencia had to get by RAF champion Kyle Dake, something he did three times (without a loss) between the US Open and Final X. This will also be the RAF debut for Parker Keckeisen. Earlier this year, Keckeisen wrapped up a decorated career at Northern Iowa that saw him win a national title in 2024 and get on the medal stand five times, never finishing lower than third and making three national finals. On the freestyle scene, Keckeisen finished third at the Senior World Team Trials and then lost a one-point bout to collegiate nemesis Carter Starocci for the final slot on the national team at Final X. Middleweight Champion (175 lbs): Evan Wick vs. Dean Hamiti We’ve got a rematch of the 2025 US Open finals. In that contest, Evan Wick posted a one-sided, 9-1 victory over Dean Hamiti. At the time, the result was a bit surprising because of Hamiti’s performance and consistency while at Oklahoma State, under the tutelage of David Taylor. Wick went on to lose in two straight matches to Levi Haines at Final X. Both wrestlers appeared on the RAF 01 card. Wick captured the middleweight championship after a memorable win over Jason Nolf. His offense was on point, as he notched five takedowns and did enough to survive on defense in a 10-8 victory. Hamiti was a late replacement and took on Dake in a Cruiserweight championship bout. Back down at 175 lbs, Hamiti is better suited for this weight class at this point in time. Once again, I think we see lots of offense from Wick - hopefully, more from Hamiti, as well. Cruiserweight (190 lbs): Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov vs. Dustin Plott At RAF 03, Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov was brought out on stage to tease a potential rematch with cruiserweight champion, Kyle Dake. A few weeks later, this bout was announced and the winner will indeed get a shot at Dake’s title on RAF 05. Kadimagomedov is a two-time Olympic and famously dismantled Dake during his 2020 Olympic silver medal run. He’s also a European champion and a three-time European finalist. Kadimagomedov is coming off a 2025 World Championship performance that was considered below his lofty standards. In Croatia, he lost in the Round of 16 to Azamat Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan) 8-1 and was not pulled back into repechage. The Russian (who represents Belarus internationally) will be a stiff test for the Oklahoma State grad, Dustin Plott. Plott got on the NCAA podium four times during his career with the Cowboys, highlighted by a runner-up finish in 2024. He wrapped up his career with a fourth-place finish this year at a loaded 184 lb weight class. On the freestyle scene this year, Plott finished fifth at the US Open and fourth at the World Team Trials. Women’s Featherweight Championship (145 lbs): Kennedy Blades vs. Alara Boyd If you followed RAF from its inception, you’d know that a centerpiece of the women’s division is supposed to be Kennedy Blades. Blades was initially set to debut on the RAF 01 card, but was pulled late due to collegiate eligibility concerns. She finally made the walk on the RAF 03 card, in her hometown of Chicago, and tallied takedown after takedown to claim the featherweight championship after an 11-0 tech over Alejandra Rivera. Blades is also an Olympic silver medalist and a 2025 Senior World bronze medalist. The tough task of dealing with and trying to limit Blades belongs to Indiana native Alara Boyd. Boyd is a multi-time collegiate All-American and a national champion wrestling with McKendree and North Central. She’s made four age-group world teams during her career and has two medals from the Cadet World Championships. Blades is normally a huge fan favorite, but being in Boyd’s home state, she should have a good backing from the crowd herself. Catchweight: David Carr vs. Belal Muhammad After winning the welterweight championship over Amr Reda at RAF 02, David Carr made an unusual request when asked about a potential future opponent. He called out the UFC star Belal Muhammad. To Muhammad’s credit and RAF, for making the bout possible, this is an actual match. Muhammad has a high school wrestling background, but that should pale in comparison when he takes the mat opposite a prime Carr, who wrestled for a bronze medal at the world championships a few months ago. Light Heavyweight (205 lbs): Patrick Downey vs. Yoel Romero Initially, this was supposed to be a bout between Yoel Romero and light heavyweight champion Bo Nickal; however, Nickal had to pull out of the match and Patrick Downey was substituted as a replacement. There will be an interim championship on the line in this contest. Romero is a combat sports legend. He’s a four-time world medalist (1x champion) and a two-time Olympian (1x silver medalist). His most “recent” world medal came at the 2005 World Championships - Romero is 48 years old. After wrapping up his amateur career, Romero turned to MMA and had a long career fighting. Romero has fought for UFC titles in the past and was active in the UFC into 2020. His most recent fight took place in the PFL in 2024. Downey is a two-match veteran of RAF. He lost his debut to 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jake Varner, but was victorious in his last match against MMA fighter Joaquin Buckley. To his credit, Downey took this matchup with the legendary Romero on short notice. There’s really no way of knowing what to expect in this contest. Romero is on the cusp of turning 50 and has still gotten in the cage as recently as a year ago. He’s one of the few people on this earth who has a sanctioned win over Cael Sanderson! He might not be close to that level of wrestling prowess on Saturday, but I’m guessing he has enough in the tank to turn in a good six minutes' worth of action. Heavyweight Championship (UNL): Wyatt Hendrickson vs. Mason Parris This is about as legit as a main event as you could make these days with competition between American wrestlers. Both wrestlers are Hodge Trophy winners and NCAA champions. Each has made at least one Senior World Team. Both have an age group world championship. Barring something unforeseen, this should be the 120 kg final at the US Open and again at Final X. Wyatt Hendrickson is the champion after a dominating win at RAF 01. Following his victory over Egyptian Mostafa Elders, Parris came to the mat and they teased this potential matchup. At RAF 02, Parris made his debut and was equally as dominant. I like that some time has passed between RAF 01 and this matchup. At the time, Parris was just getting back into the wrestling world after attempting to make the NFL’s LA Chargers. Now, he’s had a couple of months filled with nothing but wrestling training. He’s probably not as sharp as he’d like to be for a Final X series, but I’d imagine he’s close enough where this is a very fun and competitive matchup. The last meeting between these two took place at the 2022 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and Parris won, 12-5. However, a lot has changed since then. Like the Blades match, Hendrickson is a fan favorite wherever he goes. That being said, this card takes place right in Parris’ backyard, so he should have his share of supporters on hand.

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