Looking for some excellent late-summer wrestling action to watch? The highly anticipated Real American Freestyle will launch its new professional organization with its first competition, RAF01, set for Saturday, August 30 at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio. 

The event will feature a 10-match card, which includes eight men’s bouts and two women’s bouts. Fans who can not attend in person can watch RAF01 on its broadcast home, Fox Nation. 

This new “non-scripted” wrestling enterprise was spearheaded by a pair of legends from scripted professional wrestling, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, as well as respected international wrestling and MMA coach Izzy Martinez. Hogan’s unexpected death on July 24 at the age of 71 was a huge loss to those involved in RAF01, but the event organizers chose to continue forward with the event in honor of their friend and colleague. The title of Commissioner will remain unfilled, in honor and memory of Hogan. 

Four Olympic medalists headline the card, including a pair of two-time Olympic medalists from the United States, 2024 Olympic gold medalist and 2020 Olympic silver medalist Sarah Hildebrandt and 2020 and 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Kyle Dake. Both are competing for the first time since the Paris Olympic Games. 

Hildebrandt, who is the new USA Wrestling Assistant Women’s National Coach, will wrestle Zeltzin Hernandez of Mexico at Strawweight (120 lbs.). Hildebrandt has also won four Senior World medals 2018 and 2021 silvers plus 2022 and 2023 bronzes. Hernandez was a 2024 U23 World silver medalist and a 2024 Senior Pan American champion. 

Dake will battle 2025 NCAA champion Dean Hamiti in a Cruiserweight bout (190 lbs.). In addition to his Olympic medals, Dake won four Senior World titles (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022) and a 2023 World silver. Hamiti is No. 3 on the current U.S. Senior National Team, and recently won his match in a USA vs. Russia dual meet in Hungary. 

The other two Olympic medalists on the card are 2024 Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades of the United States and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Bajrang Punia of India. 

Blades is scheduled to battle Alejandra Rivera of Mexico in a Middleweight bout (150 lbs.). Blades, also a 2021 U20 World champion and three-time age group World medalist, was an NCWWC national champion for Iowa in 2024. Rivera, who has represented Mexico in two Senior World Championships, has won a pair of Pan American age-group medals. 

Punia is battling one of his international rivals, 2022 World silver medalist Yianni Diakomihalis of the USA at Lightweight (155 lbs.). Many fans remember Diakomihalis’ 10-8 win over Punia in the Beat the Streets event in the Theater at Madison Square Garden.   

Blades is one of three 2025 U.S. Senior World Team members who will be competing in RAF01, joined by men’s freestyle stars Real Woods and Wyatt Hendrickson. All three will compete a few weeks later at the 2025 Senior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, September 13-21. 

Woods will wrestle a throw-back wrestling star, 2009 NCAA champion Darrion Caldwell, in a featherweight match (145 lbs.). Woods, who was a college star at Stanford and Iowa, earned his World Team berth with a victory in Final X in June. Caldwell has pursued his professional career in Mixed Martial Arts.  

Hendrickson will wrestle Egyptian Mostafa Elders, a 2024 Olympian and 2024 All-Africa Games champion in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Hendrickson, who serves active duty in the U.S. Air Force, won the 2025 NCAA title for Oklahoma State with a stunning upset of 2012 Olympic champion Gable Steveson of Minnesota. 

There are a few interesting themes with this card, which features a handful of talented wrestlers who are now competing in other martial arts, as well as a number of athletes who compete for other nations than the United States. 

In addition to Caldwell, athletes on the card who are also competing in martial arts at this time are a pair of three-time NCAA champions from Penn State, Bo Nickal and Jason Nolf, plus past Ohio State star Lance Palmer. 

Nickel, who competes in the UFC, has taken a Light Heavyweight (205 lbs.) match against Jacob Cardenas, a three-time age-group World medalist for the USA. Nickel won a 2019 U23 World title and was second in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Cardenas, who wrestled for Michigan and Cornell in college, Cardenas has won two U23 World silver medals and a U23 World bronze medal. 

Nolf, who was second in the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, has been competing in jiu jitsu, and has signed with UFC BJJ. He will wrestle a current U.S. Senior National Team member Evan Wick, who was second in the 2025 Final X and was a 2025 U.S. Senior Open champion. 

Palmer, who was a four-time All-American for the Buckeyes, has competed in 31 professional MMA fights competing for a number of organizations. He will wrestle Austin Gomez, who competes internationally for Mexico, and wrestled for Iowa State, Wisconsin and Michigan in college. 

Another bout with a strong local angle features Ohio State’s 2015 NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello battling an NCAA runner-up from Purdue, Matt Ramos in a Bantamweight (135 lbs.) battle. Ramos was a 2018 U17 World champion for Team USA. 

Don’t wait to purchase your tickets, as there are a limited number of excellent seats still available 

Purchase RAF01 tickets 

Fox Nation has been named as the official broadcast partner for Real American Freestyle. By going to the RAF website, fans can join Fox Nation for $1.99 with the code RAF. 

Watch RAF01 on Fox Nation 

The broadcast announcers for RAF01 will be very familiar with fans of wrestling, Mixed Martial Arts and combat sports: Chael Sonnen, Bubba Jenkins and Kurt Angle. All have a strong connection with USA Wrestling. Angle was a World and Olympic freestyle champion. Sonnen was a member of the U.S. National Greco-Roman team. Jenkins won a U20 World title for Team USA. 

Real American Freestyle has done extensive athlete spotlight videos of many of the contestants, including Kennedy Blades, Bo Nickal, Darrion Caldwell, Real Woods, and Austin Gomez on its website and YouTube Channel 

Watch Real American Freestyle Spotlight Videos 

Fans can keep up with all of the news about Real American Freestyle on its website and social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, X) 

Real American Freestyle website 

REAL AMERICAN FREESTYLE

RAF01

At Wolstein Center, Cleveland, Ohio, Saturday, August 30, 7:00 p.m. ET

Pairings (with hometown and club provided by RAF) 

Light Heavyweight – 205 lbs. – Bo Nickal, State College, Pa. (NLWC) vs. Jacob Cardenas, Hoboken, N.J. (Cliff Keen WC) 

Heavyweight – Unlimited – Wyatt Hendrickson, Newton, Kansas (WCAP) vs. Mostafa Elders, Menoufia, Egypt (Talents WC) 

Middleweight – 150 lbs. – Kennedy Blades, Chicago, Ill. (Hawkeye WC) vs. Alejandra Rivera, Queretaro, Mexico (Mexican National Team) 

Bantamweight – 135 lbs. – Nathan Tomasello, Cleveland, Ohio (Team Thunder) vs. Matt Ramos, Lockport, Ill. (Boilermaker RTC) 

Lightweight – 155 lbs. – Yianni Diakomihalis, Rochester, N.Y. (Spartan Combat RTC) vs. Bajrang Punia, Khudan, India (Cliff Keen WC) 

Lightweight – 155 lbs. – Lance Palmer, Cleveland, Ohio (Ohio RTC) vs. Austin Gomez, Carol Stream, Ill. (Cliff Keen WC) 

Middleweight – 175 lbs. – Evan Wick, San Marino, Calif. (TMWC/AWA) vs. Jason Nolf, Yatesboro, Pa. (Nolf WA/Kingsway JJ) 

Strawweight – 120 lbs. – Sarah Hildebrandt, Granger, Ind. (OPTC) vs. Zeltzin Hernandez, Hidalgo, Mexico (Gomez Academy) 

Cruiserweight – 190 lbs. – Kyle Dake, Lansing, N.Y. (NLWC/TMWC) vs. Dean Hamiti, Joliet, Ill. (Cowboy RTC) 

Featherweight – 145 lbs. – Real Woods, Albuquerque, N.M. (Cliff Keen WC) vs. Darrion Caldwell, Rahway, N.J. (Wolfpack RTC)