Khamzat Chimaev Set for Tyron Woodley Wrestling Match at RAF Moscow
Khamzat Chimaev will meet former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in a Real American Freestyle wrestling match on September 5 in Moscow, Russia. The catchweight contest headlines RAF Moscow and will stream live in the United States on Fox Nation.
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Tyron Woodley in RAF
The event gives Chimaev a second appearance under the RAF banner after his prior matchup with Dillon Danis. It will be Woodley’s first RAF outing, although he is scheduled to wrestle UFC welterweight Joaquin Buckley at RAF 12 in Cleveland on August 22 before making the quick turnaround for Moscow.
Chimaev, listed by RAF as 32, represents Allstars Training Center and hails from the Chechen Republic. Woodley, 44, is listed with American Top Team Evolution and a hometown of Ferguson, Missouri.
The matchup brings together two former UFC titleholders in a format built around their wrestling backgrounds rather than MMA. Chimaev is a three-time Swedish national freestyle wrestling champion, while Woodley competed as a two-time NCAA Division I All-American during his collegiate career at the University of Missouri.
Woodley held the UFC welterweight belt from 2016 until 2019. He made four title defenses during that reign, including a draw with Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and wins over Thompson, Demian Maia and Darren Till, before losing the title to Kamaru Usman. “Borz” Chimaev captured the UFC middleweight throne with a dominant win over Dricus du Plessis and then later lost it to Sean Strickland.
RAF Moscow is the promotion’s first event in Russia and follows its July international card in Tbilisi, Georgia. The September 5 bill also includes former ONE Championship two-division titleholder Anatoly Malykhin against Iran’s Pouya Rahmani in a heavyweight match, plus a middleweight contest between Rashid Raisov and Ali Piraev.
