Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm competed at very short notice during Saturday’s inaugural Real American Freestyle wrestling event.
She was revealed as a last-minute replacement for Kennedy Blades, who the NCAA did not clear to compete in the event. Holm accepted the bout against Alejandra Rivera on 48 hours’ notice, with Rivera winning the competitive contest 9-7.
SURPRISE! UFC and boxing legend @HollyHolm steps in on one day's notice against Alejandra Rivera at 'Real American Freestyle.' @foxnation @EBischoff pic.twitter.com/dKx75SWrpU
— Real American Freestyle (@RAFWrestlingUSA) August 31, 2025
The new wrestling promotion co-founded by the late Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, held its debut event on Saturday in Ohio. The organization is also led by Chad Bronstein and Izzy Martinez.
Dubbed “RAF 01”, the professional (but not predetermined) wrestling league event emanated from the Wolstein Center in Cleveland.
The event, which streamed live on Fox Nation, also served as a tribute to Hogan, who passed away in July.
His son, Nick, participated in a pre-show ceremony, and recorded introductions from the wrestling legend were used during the show.
In another surprise moment, former UFC champion Tito Ortiz, who was in the crowd, challenged event commentator Chael Sonnen to a future match. Sonnen accepted on the spot.
UFC Hall of Famer @titoortiz just challenged @ChaelSonnen to a match at RAF 2!!!!#RealAmericanFreestyle #RAF pic.twitter.com/JDkAIQlJWc
— Real American Freestyle (@RAFWrestlingUSA) August 31, 2025
The card featured 10 bouts contested under Olympic-style freestyle wrestling rules.
Chad Bronstein told Dan Gilles of Cleveland.com that approximately 4,500 tickets were sold for the show.
The latest WrestleTix estimate before the event, posted on Saturday afternoon, noted 3,277 tickets distributed.
Eric Bischoff praised the attendees for their engagement: “From the matches we put out on that mat, the crowd was invested from the opening match to the end of the night, and that’s hard to achieve.”
In the night’s main event, Wyatt Hendrickson defeated Mostafa Elders by a 14-1 technical fall to become the inaugural RAF Heavyweight Champion. Following his victory, Hendrickson challenged 2023 Pan Am Games gold medalist Mason Parris, who came to the mat to accept.
The semi-main event saw Bo Nickal return to wrestling after a four-year absence to focus on his MMA career. Nickal captured the RAF Light Heavyweight Championship with a 6-4 decision over Jacob Cardenas. He confirmed afterward that he intends to compete for both RAF and the UFC concurrently.
The major surprise of the evening was the appearance of Holly Holm, who, as noted above, replaced Kennedy Blades, losing narrowly to Alejandra Rivera.
“I was just coming out to watch,” Holm told Cleveland.com. “I was just about to fly out and Izzy [Martinez] called me and said, ‘Hey, Kennedy can’t wrestle, how would you like to compete?’ I said, ‘If you guys are serious, I’ll do it.’”
Seven other inaugural champions were crowned. In the opening match, Cleveland native Nathan Tomasello defeated Matt Ramos 4-3 to win the Bantamweight title. Four-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake earned an 11-0 technical fall against Dean Hamiti to secure the Cruiserweight Championship.
Evan Wick defeated Jason Nolf 10-8 to win the Middleweight belt. Elsewhere, 2024 Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hildebrandt defeated Zeltzin Hernandez 11-0 for the Starweight Championship, Real Woods pinned Darrion Caldwell to become the Featherweight Champion, and Yianni Diakomihalis beat Bajrang Punia 5-1 for the Lightweight title.
Sarah Hildebrant is a LEGEND!
– 4x world medalist
– 2x Olympic medalis
AND NOW…. RAF WORLD CHAMPION!#raf #HulkHogan #RealAmericanFreestyle pic.twitter.com/83dVYYjzga— Real American Freestyle (@RAFWrestlingUSA) August 31, 2025
The show also set up future matches. In a non-title lightweight bout, Austin Gomez defeated Lance Palmer via technical fall in just 58 seconds and immediately challenged new champion Diakomihalis.
Real American Freestyle announced that its next event is scheduled for November 8 at a venue to be confirmed.
RAF 01 Full Results
- Heavyweight Championship: Wyatt Hendrickson def. Mostafa Elders via technical fall (14-1)
- Light Heavyweight Championship: Bo Nickal def. Jacob Cardenas (6-4)
- Alejandra Rivera def. Holly Holm (9-7)
- Cruiserweight Championship: Kyle Dake def. Dean Hamiti via technical fall (11-0)
- Featherweight Championship: Real Woods def. Darrion Caldwell via pinfall
- Starweight Championship: Sarah Hildebrandt def. Zeltzin Hernandez via technical fall (11-0)
- Middleweight Championship: Evan Wick def. Jason Nolf (10-8)
- Austin Gomez def. Lance Palmer via technical fall (11-0)
- Lightweight Championship: Yianni Diakomihalis def. Bajrang Punia (5-1)
- Bantamweight Championship: Nathan Tomasello def. Matt Ramos (4-3)
