RAF 07 Recap: Questions Answered

Social media buzzed for weeks with every new match announcement headlined by what promised to be a fiery rematch between Arman Tsarukyan and Georgio Poullas. Could Bo Bassett handle an Olympic gold medalist? Would there be more fireworks following the main event? Could Aeodon Sinclair really pull off a victory on one week’s notice?

Every match had question marks surrounding it and they’ve all been answered.
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‍‍Arman Tsarukyan vs Georgio Poullas - Turn The Page

After their first meeting became one of the most talked-about matches in combat sports, the rematch carried real weight. At RAF07, Tsarukyan and Poullas answered it on the mat.
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The arena was at the edge of their seat through the first two periods where the upper-hand was hard to come by and Tsarukyan led 2-0 with a pair of shot clock points. Both men opened it up in the third when Tsarukyan scored a pushout and 2 exposure points shortly after.

Poullas tightened things up with less than a minute remaining pushing the score to 5-3 but Tsarukyan put an exclamation mark on the match with a four-point throw in the final seconds.

Tsarukyan picked up the 9-3 win, the dust settled, both men shook hands and put it to bed.
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Colby Covington vs Dillon Danis - Chaos Prevails

The two biggest instigators in combat sports met in the co-main event and ran up the scoreboard for the Tampa audience. It took Colby “Chaos” Covington only 20 seconds to secure his first takedown but Danis answered back almost immediately, knotting things up at 2-2 with 1:14 left in the first period.

Covington controlled the perimeter by landing two stepout points but found himself back to square one when Danis landed yet another takedown with 20 seconds remaining in the first.

Things were even after two minutes but it wouldn’t last long as Covington went to work, landing a takedown and gut wrench in under 20 seconds. Danis would break free but Covington would strike one more time with a takedown and exposure points completing the tech fall victory at 14-4 before the end of the second period.

Following the match Covington called out another wrestler turned MMA champion in Chris Weidman.
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Parker Keckeisen vs Kyle Dake - Iron Sharpens Iron

A generational matchup played out almost exactly as billed. Cruiserweight champion, Kyle Dake, showed that it never pays to bet against the multiple-time Olympic medalist. Parker Keckeisen was no easy night out, a 2-1 match into the final moments of action before ultimately walking away with the 7-1 victory.

Keckeisen may have watched Dake have his hand raised but it was a performance that had the arena wondering how long it would be before we saw the two square off again.

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‍Kyle Snyder vs Akhmed Tazhudinov: Snyderman Strikes Back

One of the most mentally rock-solid wrestlers in the game took on the only man to defeat him by way of tech fall in a match that felt like more than wins and losses for both men. Kyle Snyder toed the line with the only man to blank him 11-0.

Tazhudinov got the scoring started with a pushout point but gave up a shot clock point evening things out at 1-1 to close out the first. The second frame featured a quick takedown by Tazhudinov who remained stingy on defense and took the 3-1 lead into the third period. Snyder never lost composure and used every second on the clock to claw back.

15 seconds into the final period, Snyder notched a pushout point and kept trudging forward. The commitment to offense paid off when he scored one final push out point with 34 seconds remaining to even things up at 3-3 which eventually led him to a criteria victory.

Snyder offered the most interesting callouts of the night, with Wyatt Hendrickson, Gable Steveson and Sadulaev in his crosshairs.
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Kennedy Blades vs Milana Dudieva: Sustained Dominance

Kennedy Blades stole the show in the buildup with her suplex on FOX’s Abby Hornacek and didn’t slow down when she took the mat against a pioneer of women’s MMA.

It took 23 seconds for Blades to score her first points with a takedown. Dudieva was down 2-0 but fought off further attack until 30 seconds remained and Blades found her way into another takedown and a roll to follow. There was just enough time on the clock in the first for Blades to land yet another takedown and take the 9-0 lead into the second period.

13 seconds into the period, Blades scored yet another takedown and celebrated another tech fall victory and retained her Middleweight title.
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Wyatt Hendrickson vs Trent Hillger: King-Sized Title Defense

Defending champion Wyatt Hendrickson got busy early with a pushout point and takedown in just over a minute. Benefitting from a shot clock point as well, Hendrickson closed out the first period with a 4-0 lead. The second period saw more of the same with the champion scoring a takedown to push things to 6-0.

Hillger wouldn’t go quietly, pushing the action enough the score a pushout point to go with a fleeing action point as Hendrickson evaded attacks.

He’d continue to threaten but ultimately Hendrickson retained his title by a score of 6-2 before calling out the “larger than life” NFL lineman Tristan Wirfs and other NFL players to test themselves on the RAF stage.
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‍Bo Bassett vs Vladimer Khinchegashvili: The New Gold Standard

Bo Bassett continues to level up in competition and continues to make the most of the opportunities.

Olympic gold medalist Vladimer Khinchegashvili is the most decorated opponent Bassett has faced yet and he rose to the occasion by showing an even more aggressive attack than we’ve ever seen.

Bassett would consistently push his high-pressure attack and close the first frame with a pair of takedowns and a pushout for a score of 5-1. Immediate exposure points and another takedown brought the match to an end with a final score of 13-3.

Bassett isn’t ready to cut Olympic gold medalists slack just yet, as he called out Henry Cejudo following his dominant victory.
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‍Aeoden Sinclair vs Khidir Saipudinov: One Week Turnaround

One week after finishing third place in the NCAA National tournament, Aeoden Sinclair took the RAF mat where he would face international medalist Khidir Saipudinov.

Saipudinov doesn’t give up many points yet Sinclair was able to strike first with a two-point takedown just 20 seconds into the match. The score remained 2-0 throughout the period and Sinclair wouldn’t add to his lead until under a minute remained in the second period.

It was all Sinclair who added two more third period takedowns before being taken down, himself with seven seconds left in the match.

The match would end with a final score of 9-4 and the newly-minted All-American promised the crowd he’d be back and even better than ever.
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Jason Nolf vs David Mistulov: Nolf’s March To The Title Continues

The former Penn State Nittany Lion, Jason Nolf, picked up right where he left off at RAF 04. Nolf followed his 10-0 tech fall victory up with another 10-0 tech.

It took just over ten seconds for Nolf to get on the board with a pushout point which he followed up with another seconds later. He advanced the threat one minute into the match by securing his first takedown and added exposure points for good measure. With only six seconds left in the first he completed another takedown that would bring the match to it’s end.

Nolf called for RAF to put the matchup with Salkovinov back together so he could continue his march back to a Middleweight title match.
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Pat Downey vs Trent Hidlay: Hidlay Wrangles The Lizard King

Trent Hidlay and Pat Downey had the audience scratching their heads after the first period ended just 1-0 with Hidlay scoring a shot clock point. The two made up for the confusing lack of offense in the first when Hidlay would tear things open in the second.

Hidlay found a new gear and immediately scored a pushout point before landing a takedown and making it an even 4-0 lead 30 seconds into the round. Hidlay would waste no time and bring the crowd to life with two four-point throws to earn himself a 12-0 tech fall victory.

‍Johnni DiJulius vs Connor Beebe: Running Up the Scoreboard

Johnni DiJulius and Connor Beebe kicked things off with an evenly-matched clash.

The first round was all DiJulius who scored a quick takedown and closed out the period 3-0. Both men would exchange takedowns in an exciting second period that saw a bow and arrow almost lead to a fall.

The men had pushed the action almost back to even for the final frame with DiJulius carrying the slight edge of 5-4. The third saw one of the biggest moments of the night as DiJulius landed a four point throw with 1:22 left in the match pushing the score to 9-4. Beebe wouldn’t say die and with 24 seconds remaining continued his attack and scored a takedown but ran out of time with DiJulius taking home the 9-6 win.

What Comes Next?

With less than a month until RAF08, fans won’t have to wait long to see matches they’ve been waiting for, hoping to relive and never knew they needed. Bo Bassett’s next step has the wrestling world eagerly awaiting, Kennedy Blades is still looking to meet her match, Real Woods has the perfect dance partner to get back in the title picture, Triple C has a score to settle with Merab Dvalishvili and much more.

RAF 07 answered a lot of questions and put certain issues to bed but it also set the groundwork for many events to come. Do not miss RAF08 Saturday, April 18 ONLY on FOX Nation!

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