Real American Freestyle officials are now left weighing what comes next for Khamzat Chimaev following a brawl that broke out at RAF 10 after Dillon Danis applied a guillotine, sending what had been a largely successful evening into disarray.
Prior to the event, RAF leadership had spoken with both competitors and delivered a clear directive. As one official stated at the post-event press conference:
“We talked to both of them prior to the match and said just keep all wrestling on the stage. There should not be anyone getting on that stage.”
That instruction went unheeded and what followed was the second brawl in the organization’s 10-show history. When asked whether the incident would alter plans for Chimaev, who had been expected to compete a couple of times over the summer, Chad, one of RAF’s key figures, was candid about where things stood.
“I just have to review the situation. Me and Eric and team were in the show, so I wasn’t reviewing film. I wasn’t able to see what occurred on the stage. I actually ended up being in the middle of it trying to just make sure that I subdue the situation and I put myself in harm’s way to try to make sure nobody was getting hurt. So again, I have Eric and myself later on today to review the tape because I can’t really answer to what I know you guys may have saw it. I just need to watch it.”
The organization made clear that the brawl ran counter to the image RAF has been working to build. An official said:
“We’re committed to being family-friendly combat sports. There’s such goodwill in the sport of wrestling across the boards. That’s what we want to nurture. That’s what we want to grow. What we saw tonight was not what we want to grow and it’ll be addressed going forward.”
Despite the ending, officials were quick to point out that the rest of RAF 10 delivered on nearly every front.
“The show was incredible,”
one said, noting that the wrestling world deserves wrestling and that is what the promotion is built around.
Security upgrades are expected to follow.
“We have to make sure again that any of those matches happen, security is even bigger, so we don’t have that situation.”
Among the night’s bright spots was Arman, whose performance drew praise from across the organization.
“He gets it. He gets a connection with the audience,”
one official said, adding that the moment Arman tossed his shoe into the crowd was particularly memorable.
“The kid that caught his shoe held it up, I mean it was like the greatest gift the kid had ever received. It was so emotional.”
As for Chimaev‘s RAF future, that question remains open until leadership reviews the tape and a full picture of the night’s events comes into focus.o focus.
