Kyle Dake vs Arsenii Dzhioev - Rematch Set After February Showdown

Just months after Arsenii Dzhioev handed Kyle Dake a 4–1 loss in their February clash, the two will step onto the mat again but this time with RAF gold on the line. Dake will have another opportunity to settle the score against Dzhioev, who enters the rematch knowing he has already proven he can beat one of the sport's most accomplished wrestlers. We may end in a trilogy, we may end with a definitive passing of the guard.

Kyle Dake hasn’t done a lot of losing throughout his folkstyle and freestyle career. Those he has lost to, he tends to get the win back and secure the series win somewhere down the line. That’s not the case, however, for his budding rivalry with Azerbaijani-young gun, Asenii Dzhioev.

Dake’s resume is almost absurd when you start looking at it through that lens. He finished his Cornell career 137-4, won four NCAA titles at four different weights and ended his college career on a 79-match winning streak. At the international level, he has collected four World titles and two Olympic bronze medals. Losing has simply never been a particularly familiar part of the Dake experience but when it has happened he has usually found a way to answer.

The most recent example being his rivalry with Zahid Valencia. After Valencia had his number in 2025, Dake came back in June and beat Valencia twice in a row to take the 86 kg spot on the U.S. World Team. It was another example of Dake doing what Dake has historically done, take the loss, figure out the problem and come back better than ever..

Could things be different this time, however, with Dzhioev?

The 24-year-old Azerbaijani already knows what it feels like to solve the Dake puzzle. Dzhioev took the first match in February by a score of 4-1. It wasn’t a fluke result buried in a random tournament bracket, either. Dzhioev went on to establish himself as one of the best international wrestlers in the weight, taking bronze at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series after wins over Dake and the rest of the class of the division.

Sealing the rivalry by taking Dake’s RAF title would be the difference between “a career victory” and “a definitive passing of the guard.”

Dzhioev already owns a Senior World bronze medal and wins over American favorites, Dake and Trent Hidlay in the last year alone. He isn't walking into this rematch as a young wrestler hoping to make a name for himself. He already has one.

The first match showed that Dzhioev is comfortable wrestling Dake's pace and isn't intimidated by the name on the other side of the mat. He has the international experience to understand when to attack, when to create distance and when to make Dake work for every position.

Dake will likely look to make the rematch a completely different dynamic starting with offensive pacing. Dake has more tech fall victories than some high-level wrestlers have victories in general. Losing by a score of 4-1 will likely have Dake pushing Dzhioev to defend as opposed to looking to counter.

He will also look to do a better job utilizing his elite discipline. He is simply one of the most fundamentally and mentally sound wrestlers of all time and if he can implement his top-notch positioning he can make every exchange physical, but the important part is turning that physicality into offense. Don't just push Dzhioev around the mat, use that pressure to create angles, get to legs and force Dzhioev to scramble.

Not many can handle Dake’s positional perfection with his top-tier chain-wrestling abilities. Look for him to put this into action.

For Dzhioev, it’s all about keeping the match low-scoring and capitalizing on his deceptive explosivity to shrink gaps when he needs to and powering through the best Dake has to offer once again.

In their first matchup, Dzhioev showed he can turn a small opening into a scoring opportunity quickly. That makes him dangerous against someone like Dake because Dake can't afford to spend too much time in neutral assuming he's safe.

Dzhioev’s counter-offense also set him apart from most people Dake has seen recently. Dake wants to pressure forward and create offense. Dzhioev can make that pressure dangerous by looking to score as Dake attacks. If Dake's shot isn't perfect, Dzhioev has the ability to turn defense into offense.

That creates a difficult problem for Dake. He needs to attack, but every attack carries the possibility of giving Dzhioev an opportunity.

There’s a lot that may sneak under the radar with this one but with a potentially career-defining rivalry in the making and RAF Cruiserweight gold on the line, this matchup has potential to be Match of the Night.

Catch Kyle Dake vs Arsenii Dzhioev LIVE Saturday, September 5.