Real American Freestyle will crown its inaugural RAF Lightweight Crossover Championship on August 22 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The new main event for the RAF 12 event will see former UFC bantamweight champions Henry Cejudo and Merab Dvalishvili renew their cross-sport rivalry as they face off for the third time.
RAF officials previously announced a grudge match between Colby Covington and Belal Muhammad for August 22, but that bout has been replaced by Cejudo vs. Dvalishvili. Covington, who became the inaugural RAF Cruiserweight Crossover Champion by defeating Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 11 on July 18, will finally throw down with the debuting Muhammad during RAF 13 on September 19 at the Watsco Center in Miami, Florida.
While fans and others around the combat sports world have hyped this bout as Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo III, it’s important to note that RAF is promoting the main event as Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo II as this will be their second outing under freestyle wrestling rules. Dvalishvili currently leads the rivalry 2-0 after victories under MMA and freestyle wrestling.
UFC 298 in February 2024 saw Dvalishvili dominate Cejudo for an unanimous-decision victory. The 35-year-old Georgian-American then defeated Cejudo last month at RAF Georgia in the city of Tbilisi, where he grew up. Cejudo was on his way to a dominant victory when Dvalishvili made a strong comeback with 11 consecutive points, securing the 11-8 comeback win in front of his countrymen.
Dvalishvili now has a RAF record of 2-0 after defeating former UFC champion Frankie Edgar in his debut this past May. Cejudo is currently at 1-1 after debuting for RAF with a win over longtime rival Urijah Faber in February.
The Machine and The Messenger will enter Real American Freestyle’s thirteenth event facing their highest stakes yet: championship gold on the line. RAF 12, a big milestone event for the promotion, is scheduled to stream live on Fox Nation beginning at 8pm ET.
RAF 12 will mark their first-year anniversary show, and the return to their original host city for the first time since RAF 01 on August 30, 2025. Below is the current lineup for RAF 12: Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo II:
- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo for the inaugural RAF Lightweight Crossover Championship
- Jordan Burroughs vs. Sean Brady
- Bo Nickal vs. Max McEnelly
- Tyron Woodley vs. Joaquin Buckley
- Evan Wick vs. Jason Nolf for the vacant RAF Middleweight Championship
- Vladimer Khinchegashvili vs. Jesse Mendez
- David Carr (c) vs. Tajmuraz Salkazanov for the RAF Welterweight Championship
- Kennedy Blades (c) vs. Diana Avsaragova for the RAF Women’s Middleweight Championship
- Johnni DiJulius vs. Asu Almabayev
- Masanosuke Ono vs. Ben Davino
- Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau vs. Will Lewan
- Gable Steveson vs. Anthony Cassioppi
Jordan Burroughs vs. Sean Brady has been named the co-main event of the night.
