Gable Steveson made quick work of Alexandr Romanov in the RAF 9 main event, winning by 10-0 technical fall in Period 2 on May 30, 2026, at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
Steveson entered the match with a UFC date already waiting, as he is set to face Elisha Ellison at UFC 329 on July 11 in Las Vegas. Romanov gave him a real heavyweight grappler across the mat, but the speed gap showed almost immediately.
Olympic Champion🥇Gable STEVESON (USA) makes his RAF debut and dominated as expected 🔥
Gable beats Romanov easily by 10-0 TF in the 2nd period. pic.twitter.com/j5X446Dmsq
— GlobalWrestOrder (@GlobalWresOrder) May 31, 2026
RAF pushed Steveson vs. Romanov as the heavyweight main event before the card.
GABLE IS READY 😤
Steveson will face Romanov at his RAF debut in Dallas on May 30.
Tickets in bio. Stream exclusively on @foxnation pic.twitter.com/6OdnT8lIWR
— Real American Freestyle (@RAFWrestlingUSA) April 23, 2026
Steveson Builds A 5-0 Lead, Then Finishes Romanov In Period 2
Romanov opened with enough hand-fighting to avoid giving up the first entry for free. Steveson feinted, made him sprawl, then kept repeating the look until Romanov reacted hard enough for the angle to open. Steveson stepped around for the takedown and immediately trapped an arm for a turn, jumping ahead 4-0.
Steveson added a pushout to make it 5-0 before the end of Period 1. Romanov tried to keep him from settling into clean positions and even flashed an arm-drag attempt, but late in the period he appeared to hurt his right arm during a hand-fighting exchange. After the restart, the arm stayed tight to his body.
Period 2 was short. Steveson pressed forward without forcing a reckless scramble, scored another pushout for 6-0, then used a collar tie into a snap-down and pass-by for two more. He moved to a gut wrench from there and turned Romanov to end it at 10-0.
Steveson’s wrestling background explains why RAF put him in this slot. He won Olympic freestyle gold at 125 kilograms in Tokyo, became a two-time NCAA Division I heavyweight champion at Minnesota, won the Dan Hodge Trophy twice, and earned five All-American honors. He also went through WWE and football before moving into MMA, where he is listed at 3-0 with three knockouts.
Romanov came in with legitimate heavyweight grappling credentials. The Moldovan has a freestyle wrestling base, won bronze at the 2016 World University Championships, and has competed in both the UFC and PFL. His MMA record is listed at 22-4 with one no contest, with 13 submission wins and UFC victories over Roque Martinez, Marcos Rogerio de Lima, Jared Vanderaa, Chase Sherman, Blagoy Ivanov, and Rodrigo Nascimento.
The match did not become a long grind before Steveson’s UFC fight. He scored first, controlled the pace, adjusted after Romanov’s arm issue, and finished the main event before the second period could get messy.
RAF 9 gave the promotion a UFC-heavy night around him. Colby Covington edged Chris Weidman 5-4, Merab Dvalishvili beat Frankie Edgar by 12-1 tech fall, and Arman Tsarukyan beat Mugzy before pushing the Covington matchup. Steveson closed it with the cleanest scoreboard of the biggest names on the card.
