RAF GEORGIA Recap - “Please Come Back!”

RAF’s first trip outside the US borders played witness to Olympic champions falling, rivalries renewed, blood shed and so much more. We say it time and time again but it was one of the biggest, one of the loudest and one of the most unforgettable nights in promotional history.

RAF’s first trip to international grounds led to one of the most deafening arenas, action-packed matches and unforgettable moments. Following the main event, Merab Dvalishvili spoke for the entire arena when he pled to the promotion, “Please come back!”

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Merab Dvalishvili vs Henry Cejudo - Miraculous Comeback

Merab Dvalishvili closed out the night by mounting almost as big of a comeback as he possibly could have and gave the raucous crowd a performance they will never forget.

Henry Cejudo opened the first period with a takedown followed by two gut wrenches to quickly jump out to a 7-0 lead. With just under 30 seconds the referee awarded Cejudo another point after Dvalishvili landed one too many strikes to the face.

Merab closed out the first strong, landing a takedown but still sat with an 8-2 deficit.

For another 90 seconds Cejudo controlled the match until Merab secured a shot clock point followed, immediately by a takedown, immediately closing the distance on the scoreboard. The crowd turned into a roar as the third period began. With 1:19 remaining Dvalishvili landed a 4-point takedown to give him a 9-8 lead. After a failed inside trip attempt Dvalishvili capitalized with yet another takedown and closed out the match earning an 11-8 victory in front of an electric home crowd.

Dvalishvili would plead at the top of his lungs, following the match, for RAF to return back to Georgia. Every person in the audience came alive and echoed the sentiment.

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Kyle Snyder vs Abdulrashid Sadulaev - Snyder Takes Chapter VI, Earns Performance of the Night

The greatest rivalry in freestyle wrestling is knotted up at 3-3.

Sadulaev took the RAF mat with a 3-2 advantage in his rivalry with Snyder and jumped out to an early, confusing lead after a sequence that saw both men earn takedown advantages led to a judges’ ruling that Sadulaev held a 4-2 lead. A lead he would carry into the second period.

With 40 seconds remaining in the second, Snyder would score the period’s only point with a shot clock point.

Snyder’s razor-thin deficit led him to push the pace immediately in the third and shoot for a perfectly timed takedown that could only be defended but Sadulaev putting his foot out of position and injuring his knee on the way down.

Snyder would complete the sequence with a pinfall and tie the lifetime series as well as reclaim his belt but don’t be surprised if the greatest rivalry in the sport gets a seventh chapter.

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Kyle Dake vs Vladimer Gamkrelidze - Blood, Sweat & Tears

RAF’s Cruiserweight title was on the line and two of the world’s strongest offensive tacticians brought their A-game defensively.

Both men had strong looks ultimately to no avail in the opening frame with Dake’s shot clock point being the only offense of the period.

The second period would see the only other points scored as Dake would score a push out point with under 30 seconds remaining. Just before the close of the period, Dake receive a gash on the back of his head bad enough it would warrant not one but two head wraps.

Neither man could point points on the board in the third and Dake would retain his RAF title.

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Vladimer Khinchegashvili vs Conor Beebe - Return to Gold Medal Form

Khinchegashvili received a warm reception from the fans on his way to the mat and thanked the crowd with a takedown in less than a minute followed by another in the closing seconds of the first round.

The second stayed action-packed but competitive with Khinchegashvili landing the round’s only takedown with 34 seconds remaining giving him a 7-0 lead going into the third.

The standing crowd saw more of the same in the final frame with both men fighting tooth-and-nail for scoring opportunities before Khinchegashvili was finally the one to put something together, scoring another takedown with 28 seconds remaining. In need of only one more point to complete the shutout tech fall, the crowd helped will Khinchegashvili to the stoppage and he completed the match with a final takedown with 9 seconds remaining.

Now 2-1 in the promotion, Khinchegashvili is setting himself up for quite a match his next time out.

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Ernazar Akmataliev vs Zain Retherford - Akmataliev Matches Shot For Shot

The crowd was on pins and needles as Ernazar Akmataliev took the mat for one of his toughest matches yet in Zain Retherford.

Going into the second period, Akmataliev had a 1-0 lead that was looking to be potentially all that would separate a win from a loss. Neither man would give up on their offense, however, and Retherford would land a much-needed takedown to give him a 2-1 lead that would close out the second period.

The third period saw both men empty the tank and it all came to a head with 40 seconds left when Retherford would earn a shot clock point off of Akmataliev’s inactivity. Just seconds later, Akmataliev would land a roll-through takedown and tie things up at 3-3.

Well-aware of the criteria ruling, the crowd would roar as the seconds ticked off the clock and Akmataliev would win the 3-3 matchup against the NCAA National Champion by being the last man to score.

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Givi Matcharashvili vs Zach Elam - A Hero’s Welcome, A Hero’s Performance

Matcharashvili earned a title shot against Kyle Snyder following a criteria victory of Stephen Buchanan and came up just short of RAF gold. Poised to earn a definitive victory in his hometown, he gave the NCAA All-American his all.

The first period was louder in the stands than on the scoreboard with Matcharashvili securing a shot clock point for the only offense of the frame. Matcharashvili would earn a couple more shot clock points before Elam would land a takedown with twenty seconds left in the second to close the gap slightly and cutting Matcharashvili’s lead to only 3-2.

The crowd hadn’t given up on Matcharashvili, though. They filled the arena with noise until Matcharashvili scored four points off of a takedown and exposure and then they came unglued.

The hometown hero won a hard-fought 7-3 match and is undoubtedly looking for another A-lister in his next trip to the RAF mat.

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Geno Petriashvili vs Jake Varner - Geno Pours It On

Olympians, friends and legends clashed when Jake Varner toed the line with Georgia-native Geno Petriashvili and the hometown wrestler showed that not all tech falls are created equal.

It took less than a minute for Petriashvili to get started, scoring two takedowns within 40 seconds of each other and closing out the first period with a 4-0 lead.

The second round marked the end of the “feel out” process and Petriashvili scored a takedown and two gut wrenches would follow. The Georgian would salute the crowd who audibly appreciated the dominant performance.

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Helen Maroulis vs Anhelina Lysak - Maroulis Separates Herself Yet Again

One of the sports most dominant women is at it again.

Helen Maroulis got right to work, scoring four points off of a takedown and exposure taking the 4-0 lead into the second and then the third period.

Maroulis would take control again in the third by scoring a takedown, pushing her lead to 6-0 before Lysak scored a surprise cement mixer takedown for four points. Just as she desperately attempted another to take the victory she was caught on her back and Maroulis would win the match by fall.

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Razambek Zhamalov vs Jarrett Jacques - Two Promotional Debuts

Both men were making their RAF debuts but only one could walk out 1-0.

Jarrett Jacques and Razambek Zhamalov would have their hands full with each other’s defense. The two would take turns shutting down each other’s attacks for much of the first period before Zhamalov would find a shot clock point and take a 1-0 lead into the second period.

In the second, he would land a much-needed takedown to give himself some breathing room on the scoreboard and take a 3-1 lead into the final period.

Both men scratched and clawed and Jacques would earn a pushout point with five seconds remaining but it wouldn’t be enough as Zhamalov took the 3-2 victory in his promotional debut.

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Anastasia Nichita vs Sangeeta Phogat - Every Second Counts

One of the most exciting finishes of the night came early when Anastasia Nichita and Sangeeta Phogat locked horns.

The first period saw a lot of action, mostly headlined by Nichita who would score a shot clock point and land a takedown ten seconds later to give herself a 3-0 advantage to close out the first.

The two negated each other’s offense for much of the second until Nichita landed another takedown, pushing her lead to 5-0 that she would carry into the explosive final period.

Phogat found her offense just in time and scored a takedown 16 seconds into the period cutting Nichita’s lead to 5-2. Less than a minute later she would strike again to make it a 5-4 match. The remainder of the match saw both women putting their foot on the gas and with ten seconds left, Phogat secured a takedown that would seemingly give her the 6-5 victory but with just one second remaining on the clock, Nichita would counter and land the match-winning takedown earning her a 7-6 victory.

Nichita walked off the mat with one of the most compelling closing-second victories in promotional history but both women’s stock rose tremendously as a result of the tight match.

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Brock Hardy vs Alibeg Alibegov - Debut Domination

An international welcome to the promotion is no easy task but Nebraska’s Brock Hardy was up to the task when he took on Alibeg Alibegov.

Foregoing the “feel out” process, Hardy would dive straight into the deep end by being taken down and then responding with a takedown of his own followed by two leg laces, a gut wrench and a step out point, giving him a 9-2 lead in the first period of his RAF career.

One minute into the next period Hardy would score another takedown, followed by the match clinching takedown just a few seconds later.

With a final score of 13-2 in his first RAF match, fans can expect to see Hardy back under the brightest lights in the sport.

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Arman Tsarukyan vs Kuat Khamitov - Arman Does It Again

Arman Tsarukyan is back at it just one week before yet another RAF Main Event, this time taking on Kuat Khamitov.

The two were offensively conservative in the opening frame with Tsarukyan landing the only takedown and carrying a 3-0 lead in the second period where he would be tested by great looks from Khamitov.

30 seconds into the period Khamitov had what appeared to be a locked takedown but Tsarukyan would not only escape the attempt but reverse it and land a takedown of his own putting himself ahead 5-0. He would push things further out of reach just before the period ended by landing another takedown and put himself three points away from another tech fall going into the final two minutes.

The third period was also all Tsarukyan. Less than thirty seconds in he scored a go-behind takedown and then one final dagger to close things out by the score of 11-0.

It was the picture-perfect performance for Tsarukyan who is now under a week away from his main event matchup with Colby “Chaos” Covington at RAF11.

Some matchups ended definitively, some were too close to call but as we always do, we close this unforgettable event with more to think about and more to chew on.

Tsarukyan carries incredible momentum going into one of the toughest tests of his career, “Funky” Ben Askren makes his return for one final matchup, Keegan O’Toole takes on Nebraska’s latest hammer and much more on Saturday, July 18 but Kyle Snyder, Brock Hardy, Helen Maroulis and everybody else who made up the RAF Georgia card have interesting next steps.

Tune into RAF11 and keep an eye out for what’s to come for the rest of the RAF Georgia wrestlers!

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