In case you didn’t know, there is now a legit professional league for freestyle wrestling — Real American Freestyle — and a number of current and former Huskers have joined the RAF ranks over the past year.
Nebraska has already seen guys like James Green, Ridge Lovett, Brock Hardy, Antrell Taylor and Christopher Minto compete on the RAF stage, and they’re not done yet.
The American GOAT Jordan Burroughs has signed on with RAF and will headline its one-year anniversary RAF 12 card on August 22 against
Sean Brady — the #5-ranked UFC Welterweight contender. While Brady is known for his ground game in the UFC, he’s unlikely to be a serious match for Burroughs the seven-time World and Olympic Champion. This match feels like the type that RAF made to allow Burroughs to knock the rust off after nearly two years away from competition.
Minto vs. Keegan O’Toole TONIGHT
Nebraska’s reigning NCAA finalist Christopher Minto will get his second RAF match tonight against Keegan O’Toole — live at 7 p.m. on the Fox Nation app. They will compete at middleweight (175 pounds).
Minto made his RAF debut in late May when he took on Jason Nolf — a three-time NCAA Champion for Penn State and one of the best freestylers in America. Minto dropped the match 10-5 but showed a lot of promise against a legend like Nolf.
Now, Minto will take on O’Toole — a two-time NCAA Champion for Missouri who also has U23 and U20 World gold medals in freestyle. O’Toole is widely considered one of Team USA’s future stars at the Senior level as long as he can stay healthy.
Minto is definitely the underdog going into this match, but his strength and scrambling abilities make him dangerous.
Hardy Dominates Asian Medalist Alibegov
At RAF Georgia last weekend, four-time All-American Brock Hardy faced off against Bahrain’s Alibeg Alibegov — a 2026 Asian bronze medalist who is a native of Dagestan, Russia. Dagestan is a global hotbed for wrestlers, grapplers and MMA fighters.
A former U23 bronze medalist for Team USA, Hardy gave up the opening exposure in the match before taking over. After Alibegov scored on a chest wrap off Hardy’s shot early, Hardy responded with a takedown before transitioning to a leg lace and then a gut wrench on the way to scoring a step-out point as well to go up 9-2.
In the second period, Hardy scored two more takedowns with low singles for the 13-2 win via technical superiority, setting himself up as a guy to watch out for next year at 65 kg.
Hardy has a number of solid freestyle wins in his career — including Alibegov, Bo Bassett (12-7 at the 2025 World Team Trials), Sammy Alvarez (12-7 at U23 Worlds), and Goga Otinashvili of Georgia (8-5 in U23 bronze-medal match).
Hardy will be a serious contender for the 65 kg World Team spot in 2027.
