RAF 09: Preview

We are less than 12 hours away from RAF 09! The organization continues to build momentum and each show seems to have better matchups and action than the last. The RAF 08 show will be hard to top, but the crowd in Arlington, Texas’ College Park Center hopes that’s the case. There will be plenty of opportunities on tonight’s card that will feature a pair of title matches, plus the return of Gable Steveson and much more. Here’s what to expect from a star-studded RAF 09 card: Middleweight (175 lbs) - Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mugzy Bulljunk One of the early stars of RAF has been UFC fighter Arman Tsarukyan. He is already 4-0 in RAF heading into this match and has another one scheduled for RAF 10. Tsarukyan is coming off a 13-1 victory over Urijah Faber in the main event of RAF 08. Mugzy has been a major promoter of RAF on his social media feeds and holds a 1-2 record with the organization. The pair has a common opponent, Georgio Poullas, who teched Mugzy but lost twice to Tsarukyan. Women’s Catchweight - Lucia Yepez Guzman vs. Cam Guerin The reigning world silver medalist Lucia Yepez Guzman returns for her second match in RAF. During her debut, she pulled away from young American star Everest Leydecker in an 11-4 victory. Since then, Yepez Guzman has won her fourth career Senior Pan-American championship. Guerin is fresh off a record-setting collegiate career wrestling for McKendree. She captured five individual national titles and helped lead the Bearcats to a 2026 NCAA team title - the first awarded by the NCAA for women’s wrestling. Guerin has competed at the U20 World Championships on two occasions and represented the USA at the Senior Pan-American Championships twice. Lightweight (155 lbs)- Bajrang Punia vs. Ridge Lovett Three-time world medalist and Olympic bronze medalist Bajrang Punia returns to RAF. Punia competed on the RAF 01 card against Yianni Diakomihalis and lost a close bout for the lightweight title. With almost a year’s worth of training under his belt, we’ll see if this version of Punia is closer to the one that was known as one of the most exciting wrestlers in the world. Facing Punia is Ridge Lovett. It seems like a formality that Lovett would compete for an organization that emphasizes individual personalities, since he is one of the best in the sport. Lovett is currently prepping for a Final X contest with Zain Retherford after winning the 2026 US Open. Lovett at the Open looked as good as he’s ever looked, putting up a boatload of points on collegiate rival Caleb Henson. This matchup could provide as much action as any on the card tonight. Lightweight (155 lbs) - Zain Retherford vs. Antrell Taylor The aforementioned Retherford is apparently back and chasing world medals and a RAF title. Retherford came back for the World Team Trials and grinded his way to a title, and a Final X date with Lovett, by defeating Henson and 2026 NCAA champion, Landon Robideau. Prior to the WTT’s, Retherford had not competed since the 2024 Olympic Games. Retherford’s opponent changed a couple of times, but settled on 2025 Nebraska national champion Antrell Taylor. Taylor was a Pan-American U20 champion in 2023 and is a three-time All-American for the Huskers. Obviously, a bout against the 2023 world champion Retherford is a huge step up in competition for Taylor. Cruiserweight (190 lbs) - Parker Keckeisen vs. Georgios Kougioumtsidis So far in RAF, it’s been nothing but world champions for Parker Keckeisen. Even so, he’s managed a 1-1 record - shocking Zahid Valencia in his debut and losing to Kyle Dake his last time out. That trend continues with 2025 world champion Georgios Kougioumtsidis. The Greek star won his world title last year with a close victory over Penn State star Levi Haines in the gold medal match. That came at 79 kg and Kougioumtsidis has been competing at 86 kg this season. Thus far, his results haven’t been as spectacular with a seventh-place finish at the Zagreb Open and ninth at the European Championships. Keckeisen actually won that Zagreb Open bracket, though the two did not meet. In the finals, Keckeisen took out Georgian world silver medalist Vladimeri Gamkrelidze. Middleweight (175 lbs) - Jason Nolf vs. Christopher Minto The third wrestler on this card with Nebraska Cornhusker roots is Christopher Minto. Like Taylor, Minto is also facing an opponent who put together a legendary career at Penn State. Minto got his share of mat time against Penn State during the 2025-26 NCAA campaign. Three of his six losses on the year came to Nittany Lion Levi Haines, including 2-1 matches in the Big Ten and NCAA finals. Minto has been a great find for the Nebraska staff, rising from a backup to All-American as a freshman and making the jump to the national finals as a sophomore. Now, he’ll have to contend with Jason Nolf. Nolf was in action on the last RAF card and put together an impressive 11-2 victory over Joey Blaze. Blaze was game, but Nolf generally had an answer for everything that was thrown at him. We’ve seen Nolf evolve back to his Olympic Trials form during his RAF career - a fun, but sloppy loss to Evan Wick in RAF 01, compared to the awesome performance against Blaze last time out. Featherweight Championship (145 lbs) - Real Woods vs. Ibragim Ilyasov There has been plenty of chaos surrounding the featherweight championship in the short history of RAF. Real Woods won the belt at RAF 01, but dropped it to Jordan Oliver at RAF 03. Since that was an extremely close contest, the two ran it back at RAF 04 and Oliver missed weight and had to surrender the belt. Now, it looks like the belt could be awarded again tonight. Woods turned in a solid performance at RAF 08 when he held off a game Anthony Ashnault, 7-2. Since Woods is a 2025 world medalist, he has not had to compete at at the US Open or WTT’s and is waiting for a Final X match with Bo Bassett. Lightweight (155 lbs) - Merab Dvalishvili vs. Frankie Edgar Finally, we get the RAF debut of UFC star Merab Dvalishvili. Merab was supposed to headline RAF 08 against Henry Cejudo; however, Cejudo pulled out late due to an injury. He is one of the most famous MMA fighters in the world; having successfully defended the UFC bantamweight title on three occasions. It will be a clash of generations as he collides with Frankie Edgar. The former Clarion wrestler made a name for himself in the UFC as someone who was initially an underdog, but always rose to the challenge and turned in nine “Fight of the Night” performances. Edgar also won and successfully defended the UFC lightweight title. From a wrestling standpoint, it’s hard to say what to expect here, but generally the younger, active athlete should have the advantage. Lightweight Championship (215 lbs) - Kyle Snyder vs. Givi Matcharashvili One of the enduring moments thus far in RAF wrestling was the comeback from Kyle Snyder on the RAF 08 card. Down 6-0 against world champion Rizabek Aitmukhan, Snyder stormed back and broke the Kazakh wrestler to win 12-6. The Philly crowd was deafening as Captain America put the final touches on his comeback victory. So far in RAF, Snyder has posted wins over Aitmukhan and Olympic gold medalist Akhmed Tazhudinov. It gets no easier on Saturday night with an opponent like Givi Matcharashvili. Matcharashvili is a two-time world bronze medalist and a 2024 Olympic silver medalist. Despite this, he and Snyder have not met very often. It appears as if their most recent meeting was at the Hungarian Ranking Series Event in 2023 - a match that Snyder won by a 3-2 margin. A few months away from the World Championships and likely not in top condition, we’ll see if Matcharashvili can avoid wilting in this unique atmosphere like Aitmukhan did in April. Catchweight - Colby Covington vs. Chris Weidman Former UFC Interim Welterweight Champion Colby Covington has already been a frequent RAF competitor and a vocal promoter of the organization. He’s racked up wins over Luke Rockhold and Dillon Danis during his first two RAF appearances. Like his matchup with Rockhold, expect Covington to be at a significant size disadvantage against former UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman. Before transitioning to the world of cage fighting, Weidman earned All-American honors in 2006 and 2007 for Hofstra. Heavyweight (UNL) - Gable Steveson vs. Alexandr Romanov The main event and highlight of the evening is the return to the mat for Gable Steveson. Since falling in the 2025 NCAA finals, Steveson has turned his attention to MMA and has impressed with a 3-0 professional record. He’s quickly become one of the best heavyweight prospects currently in MMA. With some competitors, there might be some rust, but with Gable’s age and the proximity to his full-time wrestling career, that shouldn’t be an issue. With all due respect, Steveson’s opponent, Alexandr Romanov comes in as a massive underdog. Romanov debuted in RAF at the second show and took on Mason Parris. Parris cruised to an 11-0 victory in that contest. I’d expect a similar result from Steveson. This matchup should be one that eases Steveson back onto the mat, yet gives fans a chance to see the Olympic champion do the things offensively that make him special. With a great group of heavyweights in the mix with RAF, the future matchmaking could be a lot of fun.

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