RAF14 Recap - The Future is Now

RAF14 is in the books and it was, again, one of the greatest cards in promotional history, if not simply all of freestyle wrestling history. The biggest names in the sport were bested by the next wave, new title matchups were made, crossover athletes continue to make their presence felt and much more.

There’s a lot of wrestling to unfold as a result of RAF14 but one thing is clear, the future of freestyle wrestling may have started live in front of the Las Vegas crowd.

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Arman Tsarukyan vs Dillon Danis - Keep it on the Mat

Is it possible to get through a match featuring the sport’s most shocking provocateur and one of the biggest hotheads in combat sports? The answer is yes.

Eight seconds in and the match saw its first strike when Arman Tsarukyan landed an open-hand slap to the face of Dillon Danis. The action stayed on the mat for as long as it needed to, however as Tsarukyan would score a step out point and a takedown within ten seconds of each other to give him a 3-0 lead.

He would score another step out point with a minute remaining in the first period. Less than ten seconds later he scored a takedown and gut wrenches to complete the 10-0 tech fall victory in just over a minute.

Beefed up security swarmed as Tsarukyan closed the night by stepping on Danis after the referee called the match off but the two would shake hands before closing out the night with the crossover belt secured to Tsarukyan’s shoulder.

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Khamzat Chimaev vs Robbie Lawler - A Wolf Eats a Legend

One of the most feared men in combat sports clashed with one of the most respected in a short-lived matchup.

Khamzat Chimaev wasted no time with “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler, taking the UFC Hall of Famer down just 20 seconds into the matchup jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. With just under a minute remaining in the first Chimaev would land a takedown along with a couple gut wrenches to push the score to 8-0.

20 seconds later Chimaev completed the tech fall victory with a match-sealing takedown.A bittersweet tension was lifted off the crowd when Chimaev told Chael Sonnen he couldn’t guarantee Dillon Danis vs Arman Tsarukyan would stay within the rules of RAF later in the night.

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Lucia Yepez vs Sarah Hildebrandt -Welcome to the Yepez Era

RAF’s first strawweight champ, Sarah Hildebrandt finally had her chance to prove to the world once and for all that she’s here to stay but Lucia Yepez was out to prove she wasn’t a champion by default, strawweight greatness goes through her.

After an injury sidelined the US legend, Hildebrandt watched as Yepez became the most feared wrestler in the division. Biding her time and poised for a dominant return Hildebrandt came out guns blazing.

Unfortunately for the storybook ending, so did Yepez.

The first period featured a lot of feeling out and ended only at a knotted up 1-1 tie.

Yepez would add a step out and a shot clock point to her score before closing the second period out with a takedown to give her a 5-1 lead going into the final frame.

With 1:22 left on the clock, Yepez would secure another takedown to jump out to an 8-3 lead. Hildebrandt would close the match with a takedown and leg lace but ultimately fall to Yepez by the score of 8-7.

Has Yepez’ day in the sun officially come or will Hildebrandt get an opportunity at an immediate rematch?

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Sebastian Rivera vs Vito Arujau - Match of the Night

It was all Vito Arujau until Sebastian Rivera showed the screaming crowd why it’s important to never count yourself out.

The first period ended with strong offense cancelled out by even stronger defense. With just under thirty seconds left, Arujau scored the first takedown of the match while also scoring a shot clock point to close out the first frame by the score of 3-0.

Arujau would bring the crowd to life with 1:06 remaining in the period with the forth-ever 5-point high amplitude throw to push his lead to a massive 8-1 advantage. Just for good measure he would secure another takedown to take a 10-1 lead into the final period.

With his back against the wall, Rivera would quickly chip at the deficit with a push out point and then another. With one minute remaining he found himself down 11-4 before a takedown and gut wrench would take the score to 11-9. A step out point put him one point away from winning on criteria and with only two seconds remaining Rivera would secure the criteria win with a step out point.

Both men gave the crowd everything they had and the crowd most definitely gave it back. Both men took home Match of the Night honors and the crowd took home a match they’ll never forget.

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Jordan Burroughs vs Mikey Caliendo - A Career-Defining Win

Vegas odds closed out with Mikey Caliendo a +850 underdog to the -1450 favorite Jordan Burroughs but Caliendo missed the memo.

In just under 30 seconds, Caliendo landed a pushout point to give himself the 1–0 lead. He would further impress with a takedown with 40 seconds remaining. Closing out the period with a 4-0 lead was surprising. Closing out the second with a 5-0 lead seemed highly improbable.

Burroughs would find his first takedown with 46 seconds left when he scored his signature blast-double to knock the lead down to 5-3. Caliendo refused to back down and landed another takedown with 15 seconds left. Burroughs was able to land another takedown in the closing seconds but would ultimately fall by the score of 7-5.

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Ridge Lovett vs Jordan Oliver - Lovett’s Ticket Punched

With both men due for a shot at lightweight gold, Ridge Lovett wrestled Jordan Oliver to the final whistle and left no doubt.

Lovett broke the scoring drought with a couple of step out points coming with 30 seconds remaining or less and closed out the defensive first period with a 2-0 lead.

The action picked up in the second with two more step out points for Lovett before Oliver put himself right back in the thick of it with a sub-60 second takedown. Lovett would counter with a takedown with 13 seconds remaining in the round and the two would go into the final frame with Lovett ahead 6-2.

There would be no last-second heroics from Oliver this time as with 30 seconds left Lovett would land another takedown and finish the 13-2 tech fall victory with a takedown and roll through with only one second remaining on the clock.

Lovett will take on Real Woods for the Lightweight Title Saturday, November 28 at RAF15.

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Yonger Bastida vs Zach Elam - All Yonger Bastida

Up 2-0 in the rivalry, could Yonger Bastida right the ship against Zach Elam or was the shift to freestyle just what the Missouri Tiger needed?

Bastida closed out a dominant first period with a stepout point to give him a 4-0 lead before kicking off the second with a step out point that would give him a 5-0 lead going into the third period.

The crowd was coming alive at the athleticism and defensive chess-match of the heavyweights and they would answer back by pouring it all out in the final two minutes.

Elam would get himself on the board in just over 20 seconds with a stepout point and with 1:04 left Bastida would nullify it with a takedown to extend his lead to 7-1. With less than ten seconds remaining Bastida would hammer the dagger in with a parting takedown to give himself a 9-1 victory and put himself directly into the heavyweight logjam of talent.

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Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov vs Mekhi Lewis - Gadzhimagomedov Isn’t Done Yet

Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov answered all questions about mat-rust with a return victory over the 2019 NCAA National Champion and Outstanding Wrestler Mekhi Lewis.

It only took Gadzhimagomedov 52 seconds to shake off the rust and score the first points of the match with a takedown for a 2-0 lead that would carry into the second period. He would pick up right where he left off with a takedown 25 seconds into the period and close out the second with a 5-0 lead in his return to freestyle wrestling.

Lewis brought a “never say die” attitude to Las Vegas, much to the crowd’s enjoyment and he would put himself on the board with 25 seconds left and another with 5 ticks left on the clock but would ultimately fall by the score of 5-4.

It was a solid close to the match for Lewis and the perfect return for Gadzhimagomedov.

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Bella Mir vs Hope Chase - Mir in Title Form

Bella Mir has high expectations going into a title matchup against Kennedy Blades but she would have to go through nunchuk-wielding Hope Chase first.

With 34 seconds remaining in the first Mir gave her hometown crowd something to scream about as she landed the first takedown of the match. She pushed her lead to 5-0 to close out the first period and gave the audience a highlight reel slam, bell-ringing slam after time had expired.

The crowd hadn’t cooled off and neither had Mir who forced a step out point 9 seconds into the second period to push her lead to 6-0. She would close things out less than 30 seconds later with an exposure takedown.

Mir gave her hometown a 10-0 tech fall victory and gave herself wind at her back going into the biggest women’s match in wrestling when she takes on Kennedy Blades for the Middleweight Title at RAF Abu Dhabi on Saturday, November 14.

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Pat Downey vs Magomed Magomedkerimov - Lizard King Bounces Back

It has been a tough go recently for Pat Downey and he poured it into his RAF14 matchup with Magomed Magomedkerimov for a much-needed bounce back victory.

Magomedkerimov opened the first period with a step out point followed by another with 1:11 left but Downey would knot things back up with a takedown with 39 seconds on the clock. He would close out strong with a takedown and gut wrench to give him a 6-2 lead going into the second.

With 41 seconds remaining and excitement building from the crowd, Downey would secure one of the most necessary pinfall victories of his career.

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Brendan Allen vs Alexander Shlemenko - A New Crossover Contender

Brendan Allen looked to throw his name on to the growing list of crossover stars but he would have to go through former Bellator champion Alexander Shlemenko to do so.

Allen would waste absolutely no time proving he belonged in the conversation when he landed the first takedown of the match in only 8 seconds. With 53 seconds remaining he would land another takedown and gut wrench to give himself an 8-0 lead.

With the crowd still buzzing about the immediate onslaught of offense, Allen would complete the tech fall victory with 9 seconds remaining.

Following the flawless 10-0 victory Allen would go on to call out co-main event wrestler Robbie Lawler.

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Dylan Ragusin vs Juan Archuleta - The Next Featherweight Dark Horse

Juan Archuleta brought the crowd to life with his walkout theatrics and Dylan Ragusin injected them with adrenaline with his dominant performance.

Ragusin wasted no time getting things started with a takedown ten seconds into the match. He would score another 14 seconds later but fail to complete a leg lace, keeping his lead at 4-0.

With just under a minute he would continue to pour on the offense with another takedown. With his back against the wall and looking for a Hail Mary, Archuleta went for a Jake The Snake-esque DDT that Ragusin turned into exposure points with ease and took home the perfect 10-0 tech fall win before announcing to the crowd that he was here to stay.

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RAF Abu Dhabi and RAF15 are already shaping up to be two of the biggest cards in promotional history but RAF14 feels like yet another card that will be talked about for decades to come. With two of the greatest wrestlers in the game narrowly falling the question going forward will be was RAF14 the donning of a new era in all of wrestling or are two of the most impressive comeback runs ever just on the horizon?

With these storylines, new names emerging and the bond between two of the roster’s most dominant crossover athletes tightening even more, in Khamzat Chimaev and Arman Tsarukyan, a new empire is being built just in time for RAF Abu Dhabi.

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