Khamzat Chimaev Meets Tyron Woodley on the Mats at RAF Moscow

Khamzat Chimaev is running it back on the wrestling mats. Real American Freestyle confirmed Thursday that the former UFC middleweight titleholder will headline RAF Moscow against ex-welterweight champion Tyron Woodley on Sept. 5, streaming exclusively on FOX Nation in the U.S. with global broadcast details still to come.

It's Chimaev's second RAF booking after a chaotic debut. At RAF 10 in June he pinned Dillon Danis in the first round, but the finish spilled into an all-out brawl between the two camps after Danis appeared to reach for a choke off a takedown. RAF co-founder Chad Bronstein has said Chimaev is expected to compete multiple times for the promotion before the year is out, so Moscow won't be the last of him.

The Woodley Problem

For Woodley, this is a chance to stop a losing skid that's gotten hard to look at. "The Chosen One" hasn't tasted victory in any combat sport in nearly eight years. He dropped his final four UFC bouts before jumping to boxing, where things didn't improve: two losses to Jake Paul — the second a brutal knockout — and a TKO defeat to Anderson Silva this past December on the Paul vs. Joshua undercard.

The mats offer a different equation, at least on paper. Woodley was a decorated collegiate wrestler long before the octagon, and grappling was always the engine behind his UFC title run. Whether that pedigree holds up against a takedown machine like Chimaev is another question entirely.

A Busy Late Summer

Woodley's plate is already full. He's booked for RAF 12 in August opposite Joaquin Buckley, the same Buckley who most recently stopped Colby Covington by doctor's stoppage in the third round. Covington (17-5) headlines his own RAF card down the line, drawing hated rival Belal Muhammad (24-6) at RAF 13 after their press-conference melee lit up the promotion's recent run.

RAF has leaned hard into UFC name value to build its brand, stacking cards with Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo 2 and even Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, now 4-0 in the UFC. Chimaev vs. Woodley fits that mold perfectly: two former champions, one still peaking and one chasing a win he hasn't found in years. Moscow gets the headliner on Sept. 5.