Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo will face off once again. Real American Freestyle announced that they will headline RAF 12. A champion will also be crowned, as the inaugural RAF crossover lightweight championship will be on the line.
RAF 12 marks the one-year anniversary of the wrestling promotion. The event takes place at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on Aug. 22. In just one year, RAF has quickly gained popularity within both the wrestling and MMA communities.
Dvalishvili and Cejudo’s main event clash is a rematch of their previous matchup at RAF Georgia. There, ‘The Machine’ pulled off a massive upset after coming from behind to defeat the former two-division UFC champion.
Cejudo, a 2008 Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler, aims to avenge his loss to Dvalishvili. ‘Triple C’ will definitely have added motivation, considering he lost to ‘The Machine’ in his own sport.
It will be interesting to see how Cejudo performs following his upset loss. The two also competed in an MMA bout at UFC 298, where Dvalishvili earned a dominant unanimous decision victory. Like Arman Tsarukyan, ‘The Machine’ is competing in RAF to stay active while awaiting a title shot.
Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo Had Respectful Exchange After RAF Georgia
Although Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo are competitive athletes have faced each other twice, there is strong mutual respect between them.
After RAF Georgia, both Dvalishvili and Cejudo expressed gratitude for the competitive matchup and extended their well wishes.
“Was up 8-0. Now, I might be called Old Yeller [laughing emoji]. Congratulations and respect @merab.dvalishvili. Time to win the belt back. Thank you Georgia for the love,” Cejudo wrote on Instagram.
Dvalishvili was grateful that Cejudo agreed to face him in Georgia.
“Henry, you are the man. Respect, brother. Thank you so much for coming to Georgia and thank you for giving me a great wrestling match. I love you, I respect you. God bless you and your family, and keep going, brother,” Dvalishvili said backstage during his post-match exchange with Cejudo.
The 2008 Olympic gold medalist, meanwhile, accepted the loss and praised the Georgian for his win.
“Congratulations. Good game plan. Go back and win that [UFC] title. You did such a great job,” Cejudo responded. “Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. Hell of a wrestling match. Thank you.”
Full Updated Card
RAF 12 saw a slight change to the card as a result of Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo 2 being booked. Colby Covington‘s first crossover cruiserweight title match against Belal Muhammad was pushed back.
Covington vs. Muhammad was scheduled to co-headline RAF 12 but will now take place at RAF 13 in Miami on Sept. 19 instead.
RAF 12 Updated Card:
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo – RAF Crossover Lightweight Championship
Jordan Burroughs vs. Sean Brady
Bo Nickal vs. Max McEnelly
Tyron Woodley vs. Joaquin Buckley
Evan Wick vs. Jason Nolf – RAF Middleweight Championship
Vladimer Khinchegashvili vs. Jesse Mendez
David Carr vs. Tajmuraz Salkazanov – RAF Welterweight Championship
Kennedy Blades vs. Diana Avsaragova – RAF Women’s Middleweight Championship
Johnni DiJulius vs. Asu Almabayev
Masanosuke Ono vs. Ben Davino
Kadik vs. Will Lewan
Gable Steveson vs. Anthony Cassioppi
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