RAF 09: Steveson vs. Romanov was a freestyle wrestling event produced by the Real American Freestyle (RAF) promotion that took place on May 30, 2026, at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
Background The event was headlined by a heavyweight bout between 2020 Summer Olympic gold medalist (also three-time age-group world champion) Gable Steveson and Alexander Romanov.
A catchweight 200 pound bout between former interim UFC Welterweight Champion Colby Covington and former UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman served as the co-main event.
A RAF Light Heavyweight Championship bout between reigning champion Kyle Snyder and Georgian world medalist Givi Matcharashvili took place at the event. They competed two other times with Snyder winning in April 2018 and December 2022.
A RAF Featherweight Championship bout between champion Real Woods and Ibragim Ilyasov also took place at the event.
2021 U23 World Wrestling Championships' Men's freestyle 70 kg gold medalist Ernazar Akmataliev was scheduled to face two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner Zain Retherford (also three-time NCAA Division I National champion and Pan-American champion). However, Akmataliev had to withdraw due to visa issues causing the match to be postponed to RAF Georgia in July 2026, so he was replaced by Antrell Taylor.
Results
Bonus awards The following athletes received bonuses. Match of the Night: Parker Keckeisen vs. Georgios Kougioumtsidis and Jason Nolf vs. Christopher Minto Performance of the Night: Merab Dvalishvili
See also List of RAF events
External links
"RAF 09" at Fox Nation
References