The incredible rise of RAF and why the UFC needs wrestling league to thrive

It turns out Real American Freestyle Wrestling owes as much to Hulk Hogan as it does to a father-son wrestling match. There is a chain between them, connecting the controversial WWE legend to Chad Bronstein via their fellow co-founders: another WWE icon in Eric Bischoff, and one of the US's top coaches in Izzy Martinez.

If you’re an American reader, you’ll easily differentiate between “professional wrestling”, which the late Hogan dominated (allegedly through persistent politicking, mind) , and “amateur wrestling”. The latter has always stood out as a misnomer to this writer; while pro wrestler Hogan, up until his death last July, was a “Real American” per his entrance music, amateur wrestling is the real sport – an Olympic one, and a staple in high schools around the country. Actually, one can get more granular: the variety practised in schools and colleges is folkstyle, while the Olympic version is freestyle.

Yet a sport as big as amateur wrestling was missing something. While pro wrestling has had the WWE, American football the NFL, basketball the NBA, and baseball the MLB, amateur wrestling was lacking a big, three-letter brand to make it a true, commercial, spectator sport. And then came RAF.

Exactly one year on from its debut event, Bronstein reflects on the promotion’s origins while speaking to The Independent . “My son is 10, but when he was 7, we were wrestling,” says the 39-year-old CEO, who began in ad-tech before working with Hogan on Real American Beer . “My wife was going through something difficult, and we just fell back in love with the sport, because I’ve wrestled my whole life.

“I was trying to figure out something unique for the sport. I told Hulk the idea, he was like: ‘Brother, I love it.’” It’s a good Hogan impression, in fairness. “He always talked about Bischoff being a part of it. Then my son’s wrestling coach told me: ‘Go see Izzy Martinez.’ I’m like: ‘He can really be my lynchpin in the wrestling.’”

From day one, RAF has been filling arenas in the US with monthly events, showing the appetite for the sport domestically. Yet this summer brought the first international event, in Georgia, with a Russian card coming in September – the first of those countries navigating a fraught relationship with the EU, and the latter still invading Ukraine, it must be noted.

RAF co-founder and CEO Chad Bronstein (Real American Freestyle)

Still, “Athletes want to compete against the best, they don’t care what country it is,” Bronstein says. “Wrestling is a very international sport. Georgia felt like the World Cup for us. You had all these neighbouring countries coming: Russians, Armenians, people from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. Canada is huge in wrestling, we’ve been approached to go to France and other places, we’re going to Turkey, we’re talking about Uzbekistan and Abu Dhabi.

“Our plan is to do one international event every month going into 2027. The UK will definitely be on the list. Wrestling there isn’t as popular as in the US, but in the UK you could start wrestling at four years old – same as here. Whatever sport you play, if I’m a parent, I'd send my kid to wrestling because it gives them confidence and self-defence.”

An intriguing component in RAF’s success has been tapping into the fanbase of mixed-martial-arts (MMA) juggernaut the UFC , which has lent a number of its fighters to RAF this year.

Arman Tsarukyan , who has struggled to secure a deserved UFC title shot, has been one of RAF’s most-dependable wrestlers while he awaits his next MMA fight. Since his last UFC outing, in November, he has wrestled eight times with RAF – and will do so again after facing Mauricio Ruffy in the Octagon in September. His colleague Merab Dvalishvili , very recently a UFC champion , has also emerged as a standout in RAF, and he insists that we should not be so surprised that the UFC – not always the kindest operators – is letting its fighters wrestle on the side.

“Not at all,” the Georgian says. “The UFC has been very good to me, and respects that I want to keep active in between fights. Plus, it keeps me in shape and ready.”

Tyron Woodley (right) during his reign as UFC welterweight champion (Getty)

It’s a sentiment echoed by former UFC champion Tyron Woodley, who will headline the Russian event against Khamzat Chimaev , who only lost his UFC title three months ago .

“Hell no, the UFC need to do this. They just had to cash out $375m in a class-action lawsuit . RAF is not competing [with the UFC], and wrestlers make up almost 75 per cent of their champions, so why wouldn’t you support wrestling?

“Nobody’s really going to get injured; they can get injured in practice just as likely. And guys stay in shape, so when you ask them for a last-minute UFC fight, they don't have to say ‘no’. The thing about wrestling is: it’s such a complementary sport, you don’t have to pick and choose.

“That’s why you see guys that just recently lost a UFC championship, or current guys on the Olympic ladder, going against each other. It doesn’t knock their brand if they lose a wrestling match and then fight for a UFC championship. It’s so separate. So, I think it’s smart on the UFC’s part.”

Bronstein, who represents ex-UFC champion Julianna Pena, explains he’s “built a relationship over several years with [UFC CBO] Hunter Campbell. We’re not an MMA organisation so we’re not competitive [against the UFC]. If you can wrestle five times a year, you’re building your brand and getting better at a sport that’s very helpful to fighting.

“Merab Dvalishvili just beat Henry Cejudo, an Olympic gold-medalist wrestler. Bo Nickal is great at wrestling and fighting, and he gets to do both. Injury-wise, wrestling is six minutes. Could you get injured? Yes. Is it a high probability? No, not if your body is in the right form.”

Former UFC champion Khamzat Chimaev in action in RAF (Real American Freestyle)

Woodley was considered one of the UFC’s greatest champions before a run...

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