Merab Dvalishvili will have the home country advantage in his second RAF match against a familiar foe.
Promotional officials confirmed with MMA Fighting prior to RAF 9 this past weekend in Dallas that RAF is holding their first international event, and it takes place in Georgia on July 11. The card takes place at Tbilisi Arena, and the main event will see Dvalishvili face Henry Cejudo.
The pairing was set to compete at RAF 8 in April, but a late injury scratched Cejudo from the bout. Dvalishvili earned
a UFC bantamweight title shot after defeating Cejudo via unanimous decision at UFC 298 in February 2024.
Now, Dvalishvili gets to compete in his home country.
“This is dream come true,” Dvalishvili told MMA Fighting. “It’s been a long time. We’ve been trying to bring UFC to Georgia, but this almost feels the same by bringing RAF to Georgia. This is great for my country. Wrestling is a big sport in my country. … So I’m sure my country will be excited. It’s going to be a good opportunity for other athletes for me, for Givi [Matcharashvil]… to represent our country, in our country.
“This is huge. Really huge.”
A battle of Olympic gold medalists and world champions Kyle Snyder and Abdulrashid Sudulaev serves as the co-main event.
Matcharashvil will compete on the card as well against two-time NCAA champion Zach Elam, along with Geno Petriashvil facing American Top Team wrestling coach and former Dan Hodge trophy winner Steve Mocco. Also set for RAF Georgia is Arman Tsarukyan, who faces an soon-to-be-revealed opponent. Tsarukyan headlines the following week against Colby Covington at RAF 11.
Broadcast details will also be revealed at a later date.
For RAF co-founders Chad Bronstein and Izzy Martinez, going international within the first full year of their promotion’s launch is not a surprise, and in fact, it was a goal for the company from the beginning of putting the organization together.
“Izzy and I share the same message: We wanted to do this since day one,” RAF co-founder Chad Bronstein said. “Izzy was in Croatia, and I’ll never forget it, almost a year ago, and he’s like, ‘Chad, you ready to go international?’ We wanted to go international, but I think for us, it’s cool to hear the importance of wrestling in Georgia and, again, with RAF, our goal is not to push our American wrestling to Georgia, it’s actually developing RAF Georgia.
“So I think for us it’s a sport of respect and we want to respect cultures and go to the countries that love wrestling.”
Dvalishvili holds a UFC victory over Cejudo, and now he enters the Olympic gold medalist’s world. In his promotional debut, Dvalishvili earned a tech fall win over Frankie Edgar this past weekend at RAF 9, while Cejudo defeated Urijah Faber via tech fall in his debut at RAF 6 in February.
Before “The Machine” gets his shot to regain the UFC bantamweight title against Petr Yan later this year, he’s excited to run things back with Cejudo.
“I beat him in MMA but now I’m competing in his sport,” Dvalishvili said. “Of course, he has [better] chance in the wrestling. … But that will be my next goal to beat Henry Cejudo in wrestling.”
