Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo are set to headline Real American Freestyle’s upcoming RAF Georgia event on July 11 at Tbilisi Arena in Georgia.
Real American Freestyle announced the matchup as the main event for its first international show, with Georgia selected as the host nation because it is Dvalishvili’s home country and has a strong wrestling tradition, including 18 Olympic medals in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling with three golds.
“Wrestling has always been a global sport. What it has lacked is a global platform,” RAF CEO and co-founder Chad Bronstein said in a statement. “RAF was built to change that. Georgia is home to some of the greatest wrestlers in the world and one of the proudest wrestling cultures anywhere. We couldn’t imagine a better place to launch our international expansion.”
Dvalishvili and Cejudo were originally scheduled to headline RAF 08 on April 18 in Philadelphia, but Cejudo withdrew on match day due to an undisclosed injury. The July 11 event in Tbilisi now marks the rescheduled meeting between the two.
Real American Freestyle launched in August prior to this announcement, and RAF Georgia will also feature Arman Tsarukyan, who is confirmed to compete on the card with his opponent still to be determined. Dvalishvili and Cejudo previously met in an MMA bout at UFC 298 in February 2024, where Dvalishvili won by unanimous decision.
