RAF11 Recap - Blood, Sweat & Tears

The Milwaukee crowd truly saw it all. Whether it was Keegan O’Toole opening the show with come-from-behind victory, the first women’s cruiserweight match, Colby Covington winning RAF gold or Ben Askren bringing a tear to the eyes of the sold-out arena, wrestling fans won’t soon forget RAF11.

RAF11 saw some of the most dominant performances in RAF’s history and some of the most compelling neck-and-neck nailbiters including a main event crossover bout featuring two of the most prominent faces of the organization. Ben Askren’s retirement match tugged at heart strings worldwide and a new division launched an Olympic run for its very first winner in Adeline Gray.

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Colby Covington vs Arman Tsarukyan - Match of the Night

Covington and Tsarukyan have both been crowned faces of the organization and since debuting on the same card at RAF05 they’ve stayed active and circled each other constantly. It all paid off with Crossover Cruiserweight Gold.

With the crowd fully engaged following a night of emotion and action, things kicked off methodically in the first with only a shot clock point for Covington on the board until he landed a takedown with five seconds remaining in the first period to close out with a 3-0 lead.

Tsarukyan answered back just over thirty seconds into the third to push the airtight matchup to 3-2. Tsarukyan spent the remainder of the period brilliantly fighting off almost perfect attacks from Covington until the five second mark when Covington secured another late attack pushing the score to 5-2 heading into the final period.

The two were all offense and all defense simultaneously. Both pushing forward and shutting down attacks the entire decisive round. With 36 seconds left Tsarukyan would score a shot clock point, putting him only a takedown away from upsetting Covington.

Covington, though, would hang on for the 5-3 victory, immediately start crushing a Real American Beer and calling out Belal Muhammad, Tyron Woodley and Khamzat Chimaev.

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Belal Muhammad vs Ben Askren - The Emotional End of a Storied Career

One year ago Ben Askren was 41 years old, unable to walk, under weight, lucky to be alive. Tonight he pushed a wrestle-first former UFC Champion to the final whistle and took home Match of the Night honors to close out one of the greatest careers in wrestling history.

Askren closed out the first period with a 1-0 lead following a late shot clock point. Less than 30 seconds into the second, he would put himself on the board again with a push out point. 20 seconds later he would push Muhammad out again, giving himself a 3-0 lead going into the final period of his career.

Askren was the offensive aggressor but Muhammad would remain more efficient, making the most of each attack, scoring his first takedown just over 20 seconds into the period. The crowd was firmly and loudly behind Askren but with 57 seconds left, Muhammad’s go-behind takedown put him ahead of the local hero turned worldwide legend by the score of 4-3 and despite multiple shots from Askren, Muhammad would end the match on one final Muhammad takedown with under ten seconds left giving him a 6-3 victory.

Sonnen and Muhammad would lead the crowd in the singing of “Happy Birthday” to Askren before turning over the mic to him where he would assure the crowd it truly was his last time out on the wrestling mat.

Through teary eyes he told the crowd “I love you guys, I really do.” And left his shoes on the mat.

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Lucia Yepez vs Felicity Taylor - More Yepez Domination

It’s getting hard to figure out what to do next with Ecuador’s Lucia Yepez.

Yepez landed the first takedown of the match in just ten seconds, followed by a gut wrench to give her a quick 4-0 lead. In less than a minute she had landed another takedown to give her a 6-0 lead that she would take into the second round.

The “second round” could also be translated to the “final round” as Yepez would push her lead to 8-0 almost immediately before landing the final takedown of the match with just under a minute remaining to give herself the 10-0 tech fall victory.

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Arsen Harutyunyan vs Ben Davino - Harutyunyan Does it Again

The first period was all Davino with the young Buckeye jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first period but the rest was an Arsen Harutyunyan crash course in chipping away and picking the right shots.

Harutyunyan got the ball rolling with a push out point 30 seconds into the period followed by a takedown a minute later. Davino held on to the 5-3 lead into the final period but Harutyunyan continued finding ways on to the board starting with a shot clock point with plenty of time on the clock followed by a match-sealing takedown with three seconds left in the match.

Both men walked away with raised stock but it was Harutyunyan who pulled off his second come-from-behind win in a row.

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Magomed Ramazanov vs Aeoden Sinclair - Gold Medalist Edges Out Emerging Superstar

A defensive showcase of a first period ended all knotted up at 1-1. The second period opened with an offensive surge from both men with Sinclair securing a takedown only five seconds into the period and Ramazanov capitalizing with two step over points to tie things back up at 3-3.

Ramazanov and Sinclair would continue to shut down each other’s best looks before the Olympic Gold Medalist would land another takedown with 1:13 left in the period to give him a 5-3 lead he would carry into the final period.

Ramazanov would win by a final score of 6-3 but it’s hard to say the two won’t meet again with how perfectly the styles matched up.

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Michael Caliendo vs Mirzo Khayitov - Caliendo Is Back On Top

Iowa’s Michael Caliendo kicked off his “post-college” career in style with a takedown only 15 seconds into the first period. Giving Khayitov no room to get his offense going, Caliendo would also take a shot clock point to take a 3-0 lead into the second period.

In the second, Caliendo would continue spamming offense with Khayitov fighting it off the best that he could and the period ending with just a Caliendo takedown and 5-0 lead.

The Iowa Hawkeye would take only 30 seconds to take Khayitov down in the final frame, pushing his lead to 7-0. He would nearly take home the tech fall victory but with 13 seconds left Khayitov would land a takedown off of Caliendo’s attack to make the final score 9-2 for a successful RAF debut for the 2026 NCAA runner-up.

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Frankie Edgar vs Clay Guida - High Motor Crossover Classic

Frankie Edgar and Clay Guida were both known for their high-motor, fan-friendly fighting style in their time in the UFC but both are quick to thank their wrestling careers for their MMA success. They finally met on the mat and it met the hype.

Both men took the center of the mat with their signature “shot out of a cannon” speeds. Edgar closed out the first period with a 1-0 lead thanks to a shot clock point.

The two would pick up where they left off in the second with air-tight defense and creative scoring opportunities but it was only Edgar who would cash in with a takedown in the second, kicking off the last round with a 3-1 lead.

In the third round, Edgar would pull away, landing 4 exposure points just 40 seconds in and a takedown with 49 seconds remaining to give him a 9-1 victory.

Following the match Edgar would call out Urijah Faber, another NCAA Wrestler turned fighter that he defeated in the UFC cage in 2015.

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Trent Hidlay vs Magodmedkhan Magomedov - Performance of the Night

Grit took out precision when one of NCAA’s favorite wild men toed the line with an Olympic Bronze Medalist.

After Hidlay would close out the first period with a 2-0 lead the crowd would come alive and he would open the second by pushing Magomedov completely off the stage for a painful push out point. He would close out the firework filled round with four exposure points to give himself an 8-0 lead.

Just over ten seconds into the final frame, Hidlay would land a takedown to secure the tech fall victory. With a few celebratory pounds to his head and a primal scream to the crowd, Hidlay would take his opportunity on the microphone to call out Khamzat Chimaev assuring him he’s, “Not a wolf.”

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Adeline Gray vs Skylar Grote - Women’s Cruiserweight History

Unsure of her international wrestling future, Olympic silver medalist Adeline Gray would make her RAF debut against Skylar Grote in the first women’s Cruiserweight match in RAF history.

Grote would close out the first period with a 1-0 lead thanks to a late shot clock point. She scored another shot clock point in the second but was matched by a Gray takedown almost immediately after.

Scoring opportunities were few and far between in the third but it was all Gray as she landed the match-sealing takedown with 42 seconds left and ultimately took home the 5-2 victory.

Following the match she told the crowd that if she could beat somebody as dangerous as Skylar Grote then she had what it took to make an Olympic run in 2028. Keep an eye out for the short term and the long term of Adeline Gray.

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Zac Braunagel vs Pat Downey - Greco-Roman Reigns Supreme

Braunagel was looking for the perfect debut, Downey was looking for the perfect bounce back and it was going to be power vs pace.

Downey got on the board first with a shot clock point and closed out the round with a 2-0 lead. Ten seconds into the second frame, Braunagel came alone with four exposure points to give himself a 4-2 lead with plenty of time left. Downey contested but the ruling was not reviewable and Braunagel ended the second with a 5-2 lead.

Braunagel’s gas take began overpowering Downey and he secured a takedown that would push the match to 8-2. A step out point would push Braunagel’s lead to 9-2 and with a tech fall in mind with little time left, Braunagel took it to the next gear and with two seconds on the clock, he closed out the 12-2 victory.

Braunagel admitted the match was tough but expressed heavy interest in returning. “Give me anyone. I’m one of those guys, I’ll take any match.”

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Tony Cassioppi vs Mostafa Elders - Back in the Driver’s Seat

Iowa’s All-American met RAF’s first heavyweight title challenger in an early card matchup of contenders. Power met speed to see who would put their name back into the conversation at heavyweight.

Cassioppi struck first with a push out point in under 30 seconds. With just over a minute remaining in the round Cassioppi secured a take down followed by a shot clock point to give him a 4-0 lead to close out the first period.

Both men would thwart the other’s best offensive attempts with only a late shot clock point for Cassioppi going on the board. Cassioppi did surrender a point but remained in the driver’s seat for the third period as well and closed out with a 6-2 victory. The crowd showed their appreciation for his strongest RAF performance.

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Keegan O’Toole vs Christopher Minto - Getting Started Right

There was only one way to kick the night off and it was with the Wisconsin-born and bred Keegan O’Toole taking on divisional dark-horse Christopher Minto.

Minto looked to play spoiler to the already-raucous crowd by jumping out to a 2-0 lead with a takedown 28 seconds into the match. With 30 seconds remaining he landed another and ended the period with a 5-0 lead that audibly concerned the Milwaukee crowd.

Getting behind O’Toole, the crowd willed him to a takedown with 43 seconds remaining. Minto immediately reversed the position but was followed by another O’Toole takedown seconds later. The crowd roared as O’Toole closed out the period down only one point at 7-6.

The Mizzou National Champion took 25 seconds to feel out Minto before landing a takedown that would put him up 8-7 but he was far from finished. O’Toole would land another takedown quickly after, followed by two gut wrenches.

Minto would land a takedown inside the final ten seconds but it would be O’Toole getting his hand raised with a 14-9 victory.

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RAF’s one year anniversary show back where it all started in Cleveland is already shaping up to be a must-watch event but it will be hard to imagine a show having more frenzy and emotion packed into it than RAF11.

Colby Covington and Belal Muhammad laid the groundwork for the future by booking a Cruiserweight Crossover Championship matchup in Cleveland, Cassioppi is back in the mix, Caliendo and Hidlay had two of the most impressive performances possible, Lucia Yepez still looks unbeatable and Adeline Gray gave us an entirely new division to think about.

The Milwaukee crowd got everything out of every competitor and they gave everything back from the stands. As we always say, just when the crowd thinks they’ve seen it all, the next event brings even more heat.

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