RAF 09

RAF 09: Steveson vs. Romanov
The poster for RAF 09: Steveson vs. Romanov
Promotion	Real American Freestyle
Date	May 30, 2026
Venue	College Park Center
City	Arlington, Texas
Attendance	3,252
Event chronology
RAF 08: Tsarukyan vs. Faber RAF 09: Steveson vs. Romanov RAF 10: Chimaev vs. Danis

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.

An 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.

An 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

Main card (Fox Nation)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Heavyweight	Gable Steveson	def.	Alexander Romanov	Technical fall (10–0)	2	1:07
Catchweight (200 lb)	Colby Covington	def.	Chris Weidman	Decision (5–4)	3	2:00
Light Heavyweight	Kyle Snyder (c)	def.	Givi Matcharashvili	Technical fall (10–0)	3	0:41
Lightweight	Merab Dvalishvili	def.	Frankie Edgar	Technical fall (12–1)	3	1:34
Featherweight	Real Woods (c)	def.	Ibragim Ilyasov	Pinfall	1	2:11
Middleweight	Jason Nolf	def.	Christopher Minto	Decision (10–5)	3	2:00
Cruiserweight	Parker Keckeisen	def.	Georgios Kougioumtsidis	Decision (8–5)	3	2:00
Lightweight	Zain Retherford	def.	Antrell Taylor	Decision (8–0)	3	2:00
Lightweight	Ridge Lovett	def.	Bajrang Punia	Decision (13–8)	3	2:00
Catchweight (120 lb)	Lucia Yepez	def.	Cameron Guerin	Technical fall (10–0)	1	1:48
Middleweight	Arman Tsarukyan	def.	Keelon Jimison	Technical fall (16–5)	1	1:56

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
• "RAF 09" on YouTube

References