RAF 05: Preview

We’re only a day away from RAF 05 and there’s plenty of reason to be excited. The organization’s first four cards have been held with about 500 miles of each other (from State College, PA to Chicago). Now, they are venturing out of that comfort zone and heading south to Sunrise, Florida. The RAF 05 is the most complete and best card offered thus far by the company. There’s a little something for everyone. For crossover MMA fans, you have Covington/Rockhold and Palmer/Tsarukyan. The wrestling die-hards get Dake/Kadimagomedov, Oliver/Woods, and more. The younger, more social media interested fans get Mugzy/Poullas and Bassett/Henschel. Your old heads get Steve Mocco and Yoel Romero. Here’s a bit about each of the 11 matches slated for Saturday night. Cruiserweight (190 lbs): Colby Covington vs. Luke Rockhold This was the first bout announced on RAF 05 and will be the headliner. It is designed to capture the attention of the MMA community, as both Colby Covington and Luke Rockhold are prominent names in the UFC. Rockhold was a high school wrestler who quickly transitioned to MMA and won the UFC middleweight championship in 2015. His last fight in the organization was in 2022. Covington was an All-American for Oregon State and moved to MMA after his graduation in 2011. During his time in the UFC, Covington held the interim welterweight championship and fought for the welterweight belt three times. Like the Chad Mendes/Michael Chandler bout, I’m not sure where these two are from a wrestling standpoint. Covington has the better credentials, but Rockhold should have a size advantage. Light Heavyweight Championship (205 lbs): Bo Nickal vs. Yoel Romero Uncertainty was the main topic for Yoel Romero’s debut against Patrick Downey on RAF 04. Forgive us if we didn’t know what to expect from the 48-year-old combat sports legend. As it turns out, Romero was able to turn back the clock with some explosive throws against Downey. Now the ante has been upped against Bo Nickal. Nickal’s win over Jacob Cardenas at RAF 01 showed that, even though he’s not 100% focused on wrestling, Nickal is still a highly formidable opponent on the wrestling mat. We’ll see if Nickal attempts leg attacks or if this becomes an upper body contest, as neither will shy away from throws and trips. This bout was initially supposed to be on the RAF 04 card, but Nickal had to pull out and the match was rescheduled. Cruiserweight Championship (190 lbs): Kyle Dake vs. Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov This is probably the match the hardcore fans are looking forward to the most. Kyle Dake and Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov famously met in the Olympic quarterfinals and Kadimagomedov shocked Dake with an 11-0 tech. On the RAF 04 show, Kadimagomedov debuted and put together one of the more entertaining matches in the organization’s short life, beating Dustin Plott, 11-7. So far, in his RAF career, Dake is 2-0 but hasn’t been seriously tested in wins against Dean Hamiti and Boris Makoev. Dake’s size might play a part in the result here. There were a couple of opportunities for Kadimagomedov to expose Plott with chest wraps and crotch lifts, but his opponent’s size stopped him. Even though this isn’t a world/Olympic bout, I expect both wrestlers to treat it like one. Featherweight Championship (145 lbs): Jordan Oliver vs. Real Woods On the RAF 03 card, Jordan Oliver traveled to Real Woods’ hometown and won the RAF featherweight belt from the 2025 world medalist. Though the win was legitimate, even Oliver wasn’t necessarily happy with his performance in the win. With that in mind and a match decided on criteria, it makes sense to have an immediate rematch between these two. Oliver has been known as one of the more popular and exciting offensive wrestlers of his generation. Unfortunately, that offensive firepower wasn’t evident in his win over Woods. 2025 was a breakout year for Woods on the international scene. He rebounded from a subpar US Open to win a spot on the Senior World Team and ended up capturing a bronze medal. Hopefully, we’ll see more action from both wrestlers this time, as they are capable of making a fun match for fans. Bantamweight Championship (135 lbs): Nathan Tomasello vs. Austin DeSanto The final title bout features Nathan Tomasello making his second title defense - this time against Austin DeSanto. Both are unbeaten on the RAF mat, Tomasello is 2-0 and DeSanto is 1-0. Because of an injury replacement, both of Tomasello’s RAF wins have come at the expense of Matt Ramos. Both matches were close, a one-point win on RAF 01 and a two-pointer on RAF 02. DeSanto got the RAF 02 card started with a 10-0 tech of former Penn State national champion, Nico Megaludis. With RAF weight classes, bantamweight might be the perfect size for both of these wrestlers. With DeSanto’s pace and handfighting, I think we’re bound to see a quality matchup here. Featherweight (145 lbs): Pat Lugo vs. Johnni DiJulius DeSanto’s former teammate, Pat Lugo, is about to make his RAF debut. Lugo was an All-American for Iowa in 2019 and the Big Ten champion and #1 seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships that were cancelled at the onset of the COVID pandemic. Since 2020, Lugo has competed here and there for the Hawkeye Wrestling Club. Johnni DiJulius was a four-time national qualifier for Ohio State and a starter on their national championship-winning team in 2015. Since then, DiJulius has spent time coaching collegiate and is a full-time thrill-seeker. He’s built a large social media following BASE jumping, bungee jumping, skydiving and more. DiJulius also portrayed Hawkeye Matt McDonough in the Anthony Robles film “Unstoppable.” Open Weight: Mugzy Bulljunk vs. Georgio Poullas In between matches at RAF 04, we saw an “altercation” between Mugzy Bulljunk and Georgio Poullas in the catering area backstage. Both have large social media followings and this match is likely targeted at that demographic. The edge here has to go towards the former Cleveland State wrestler, Poullas. Cruiserweight (190 lbs): Zahid Valencia vs. Nate Jackson These two wrestlers have been involved in two of the most surprising matches thus far in RAF’s short history. At RAF 02, Nate Jackson into State College and shocked Penn State’s five-time national champion, Carter Starocci. Jackson got out to an early lead and was never in danger. At the most recent RAF card, Valencia was stunned during a 10-2 loss to Parker Keckeisen. The question is, will we see the wrestler who crushed the competition at the 2025 World Championships or the one who struggled to hold down his lunch last month? In early 2025, these two met and it was Valencia who prevailed by a 12-2 tech, but with Jackson’s last RAF performance, he’s very serious and a threat send Valencia to a 0-2 record in RAF. Lightweight (155 lbs): Lance Palmer vs. Arman Tsarukyan Lance Palmer was one of the ex-wrestlers to return to the mat on the inaugural RAF card. His return didn’t go so well against title contender Austin Gomez. This matchup with UFC lightweight title contender Arman Tsarukyan might be more manageable. Although Tsarukyan is 29 years old and likely in the prime of his combat sports career, he isn’t focused full-time on wrestling like Gomez. Featherweight (145 lbs): Bo Bassett vs. Cayden Henschel The RAF 03 card got off to a blazing start as high school senior Bo Bassett made his debut and pinned 2009 NCAA champion Darrion Caldwell in a minute. Within the last few months, Bassett has also dominated his way to titles at the Super 32, the Ironman, and the Beast of the East. Cayden Henschel is ready to wrestle for the third time under the RAF banner. He won his first two matches via tech fall; however, his two opponents were Mugzy and 44 year-old former UFC fighter Clay Guida. Even though, Bassett is much younger than those foes and, Henschel himself, he will be on a much higher level. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t the “Bo show,” once again. Light Heavyweight (205 lbs): Patrick Downey vs. Stephen Buchanan Through four events, the Ironman of RAF wrestling has been Patrick Downey. He did not appear on the first card but has been on the next three and is preparing for a matchup with 2025 NCAA champion Stephen Buchanan on Saturday. Downey is 1-2 in RAF with losses to Olympic medalists Jake Varner and Yoel Romero and a win over MMA fighter Joaquin Buckley. A match against Buchanan falls somewhere in the middle of those three. We don’t have much of a background on Buchanan on the freestyle scene, but he should be a factor on the US domestic ladder in 2026. On his way to winning the 2025 NCAA title, Buchanan handed AJ Ferrari his only loss of the 2024-25 season and defeated current #1 Josh Barr in the national finals. At the Big Ten Championships, Buchanan suffered his only loss of the year to two-match RAF veteran, Jacob Cardenas. Heavyweight (Unlimited): Mostafa Elders vs. Steve Mocco It seemed as if RAF’s 05 card was set - and it looked good. But then they went and brought back Steve Mocco. As someone from Mocco’s era, I love to see it. Had internet wrestling coverage been more prevalent in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, Mocco would have had the same sort of hype that Bassett and Gable Steveson received coming out of high school. Mocco went on to make the NCAA finals four times, winning twice, and earning the 2005 Hodge Trophy. He later made the 2008 Olympic team. Mocco’s opponent is Egyptian Olympian Mostafa Elders. Elders saw action opposite Wyatt Hendrickson on RAF 01 and was beaten 14-1 by Hendrickson. Because of Mocco’s age (44), Elders should be more competitive in this contest. As is always the case with the guys coming out of retirement (actually, don’t call it a retirement, Steve didn’t leave his shoes), we have no idea what to expect from Mocco. He’s spent plenty of time coaching wrestling and MMA and also has two sons who are high-quality high school big men, so he hasn’t been too far away from the mat.

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