Khamzat Chimaev still wrestles in Abu Dhabi this Saturday, Nov. 14, though the man across the mat changed on Monday. Colby Covington withdrew from their scheduled RAF cruiserweight crossover championship match, and Chris Weidman stepped in, with the belt on the line now billed as a newly booked light heavyweight crossover championship. Yahoo Sports laid out the full Real American Freestyle card and broadcast details, with Uncrowned covering the event live from Etihad Arena.
So it’s two former UFC middleweight champions headlining a wrestling show, which is a sentence I didn’t expect to type this year. Chimaev comes in 3-0 in RAF after running through Dillon Danis, Tyron Woodley and Robbie Lawler, none of whom lasted long. Weidman is 0-1 with the promotion. His lone appearance came this past May, a 5-4 loss to Covington that was a genuine grind. He’s also a former NCAA Division I All-American, and the guy who ended Anderson Silva’s historic UFC middleweight title reign in 2013, so he walks in with more mat credentials than anybody Chimaev has seen in RAF so far.
The rest of the card
The co-main is RAF middleweight crossover champion Arman Tsarukyan against former Bellator contender Neiman Gracie, a catchweight bout with no title attached. Retired UFC contender Zabit Magomedsharipov comes back against Giga Chikadze at welterweight. Merab Dvalishvili meets Marlon Moraes at catchweight, and Umar Nurmagomedov draws Urijah Faber at lightweight. Julianna Peña faces Diana Avsaragova in a middleweight crossover.
The pure freestyle side is loaded too. Kyle Dake defends the RAF cruiserweight title against Alp Arslan Begenjov. Kyle Snyder and Shamil Erdogan wrestle for the RAF light heavyweight championship. Kennedy Blades puts her RAF middleweight belt up against Bella Mir, daughter of Frank Mir. Abdulrashid Sadulaev vs. Dauren Kurugliev, Jordan Burroughs vs. Azamat Nurykau and Zahid Valencia vs. Khidir Saipudinov round it out, along with Murtaza Talha vs. Osama Elsaidy at light heavyweight.
How to watch: FOX Nation streams it in the United States starting at 11 a.m. ET. Viewers in the Middle East and North Africa get it on STARZPLAY, and everyone else can watch on RAF’s YouTube channel.
Sal’s take
One data point is all we have on Weidman in this format, and it’s a one-point loss to the guy who just pulled out. That’s thin, but it beats Chimaev’s last three opponents, whose combined résumé in RAF amounts to getting flattened fast. Weidman at least proved he can keep a match close on the scoreboard against a high-level wrestler. Chimaev should still be a heavy favorite, and he’s earned it. My one note: replacement opponents with a real wrestling pedigree are exactly where I go looking for a live dog, so if a book hangs a fat plus number on Weidman, I’m reading the fine print before I laugh it off. Mats open at 11 a.m. ET Saturday.
