Ryan Wohl previews Saturday’s RAF 09 card featuring Gable Steveson vs. Alexandr Romanov and Colby Covington vs. Chris Weidman.
Real American Freestyle is back for its fifth event in 2026 and ninth in promotion history. RAF 09 is being headlined by former Division 1 National Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Gable Steveson vs. No. 9-ranked PFL contender Alexandr Romanov in a Heavyweight contest.
This is Steveson’s first wrestling match since he lost to Wyatt Hendrickson in the 2025 National Championship. Since his collegiate wrestling career ended, Steveson has gone 4-0 with four knockouts between MMA and Dirty Boxing. Steveson recently signed with the UFC and will make his debut for the top MMA promotion on July 11 at UFC 329. Romanov lost his first contest in RAF in October 2025 against Mason Parris.
Two former UFC fighters, Colby Covington and Chris Weidman, will face off in the co-main event of this card. Covington has announced that he is done competing in the UFC and will instead focus on being active in RAF. In RAF, Covington is 2-0 in RAF with wins over Luke Rockhold and Dillon Danis. Weidman is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and was an All-American while wrestling at Hofstra. This is Weidman’s first match in Real American Freestyle.
Two more former UFC Champions, Merab Dvalishvili and Frankie Edgar, are on this card. This is Dvalishvili and Edgar’s debut in RAF. Edgar, 44, last competed in combat sports at UFC 281 against Chris Gutierrez in November 2022. This is Dvalishvili’s first appearance since losing his title to Petr Yan at UFC 323 in December 2025.
RAF 09 is airing live on Fox Nation beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Heavyweight Bout: Gable Steveson vs. Alexandr Romanov
Catchweight Bout: Colby Covington vs. Chris Weidman
Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: Kyle Snyder (c) vs. Givi Matcharashvili
Lightweight Bout: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Frankie Edgar
Featherweight Championship Bout: Ibragim Ilyasov vs. Real Woods
Middleweight Bout: Christopher Minto vs. Jason Nolf
Cruiserweight Bout: Parker Keckeisen vs. Georgios Kougioumtsidis
Lightweight Bout: Zain Retherford vs. Antrell Taylor
Lightweight Bout: Ridge Lovett vs. Bajrang Punia
Catchweight Bout: Cameron Guerin vs. Lucia Yepez
Middleweight Bout: Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mugzy
The event is taking place at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
RAF 09 starts at 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 30.
RAF 09 and all of their events air live on Fox Nation.
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