Jason Nolf vs Ismail Khaniev - Celebration Cut Short

One of Penn State’s favorite technicians finally holds RAF gold but Jason Nolf has a tall task ahead of him in his first match post-championship win when he meets international superstar Ismail Khaniev behind enemy lines at RAF MOSCOW.

After coming up just short in his title match against Evan Wick at RAF01, Jason Nolf has ditched Jiu-jitsu and gone on a 5-0 tear and avenged his RAF01 loss with a tech fall victory over Wick for the RAF Middleweight Title. He won’t get a chance for a victory lap or extended celebration as only two weeks after winning the belt he’s set to take on Russian powerhouse Ismail Khaniev in Moscow.

Nolf is widely known for having one of the deepest bags of tricks in his era. There’s no position that he doesn’t have a counter or contortion for and he put it on display when he climbed back into the title picture and reclaimed the belt that narrowly evaded him.

The storybook ending was cause for celebration but instead, Nolf is staring down the barrel of a flight to Russia to take on native-born young gun, Ismail Khaniev behind enemy lines.

Khaniev might be one of the youngest athletes on the RAF roster but don’t think of him as unproven, think of RAF MOSCOW as his coming out party.

Khaniev introduced himself to international competition by laying waste to the field at the U20 Worlds. Khaniev would not only win his second U20 gold medal but he would do it in almost flawless fashion, winning the final match by a score of 8-0 and outsourcing his opponents 50-2 in the tournament.

Nolf has the hardware but Khaniev has the wind at his back, homefield advantage and a chip on his shoulder.

To leave Russia with a sixth straight RAF win, Nolf will need to attack areas that Khaniev relies on which should come very natural thanks to his high-paced, scramble heavy creative offense.

For Nolf, utilizing his scrambling and making the match ugly will give him his strongest advantage. If he can make it ugly, even the “safe” positions become tricky. If Khaniev gets into a conventional leg attack, Nolf can turn the resulting scramble into offense of his own. His far-ankle scrambling and defensive reactions have seemingly only gotten sharper.

Heavy hands, pace and creativity are his biggest assets and ones he’s most likely to lean on.

For Khaniev, the keys to victory are to lean on Nolf’s re-attack weakness, defensive prowess and efficiency.

When Khaniev gets to the legs he’s efficient beyond his years. Takedowns tend to turn into leg laces, gut wrenches or exposure points. Even if takedowns are hard to come by, he’s a giant threat to make the most out of them. A leg and a handful of seconds is all Khaniev needs to turn the match upside down.

Nolf has said it himself that he needs to tighten the screws when it comes to re-attacks in his game. While he did make the adjustment, successfully, against Wick at RAF12 it still remains one of the only holes in his game. Khaniev can and will look to take advantage.

Khaniev’s defense is born from a comfort in a firefight. Where most would concede a takedown if a 3-time NCAA National Champion grabbed their leg, Khaniev’s presence of mind and focus allow him to find openings nobody would expect a 19-year-old to be eyeing. With defense as strong as his is, offense is always right around the corner.

Both men have a path to victory but only one man will walk off the RAF mat with their hand raised.

Catch Jason Nolf vs Ismail Khaniev, LIVE at RAF MOSCOW Saturday, September 5 ONLY!