Khamzat Chimaev has his first RAF match booked, and the opponent is exactly the kind of name that makes the internet stop scrolling.
Chimaev is set to face Dillon Danis in a catchweight wrestling main event at RAF 10 on June 13 at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Missouri. The bout gives Chimaev his Real American Freestyle debut only days after UFC 328, where his camp later pointed to a brutal weight cut before the Sean Strickland loss.
Real American Freestyle’s event page lists Chimaev vs. Danis as the main event and catchweight matchup. The same page lists Chimaev with Allstars Training Center and Danis with SBG Ireland, giving the match a clean wrestler-vs-grappler hook without needing fake drama.
See the RAF 10 matchup post below:
Danis Gets A Major RAF 10 Main Event After Colby Covington Loss
Chimaev’s RAF signing was announced during RAF 8, but the promotion had to wait until his UFC 328 title defense was finished before locking in his first wrestling match. That fight ended with Strickland winning a split decision and taking the UFC middleweight title. Chimaev is still a former UFC middleweight champion and remains one of the top names at 185, but RAF 10 gives him a different assignment before any UFC rematch talk becomes real.
Danis enters with his own messy combat sports profile. He is an American mixed martial artist, the current Misfits MMA light heavyweight champion, and signed to RAF’s cruiserweight division. He already made his RAF debut against Colby Covington at RAF 7, where Covington beat Danis by tech fall after a heated build that included their wild RAF 7 press conference clash.
This is a different kind of matchup. Danis has long been tied to grappling and became widely known in MMA circles as a Conor McGregor training partner. Chimaev’s wrestling has been the engine of his MMA success, even after Brendan Schaub questioned whether his UFC 328 takedowns carried enough damage.
RAF 10 also has Arman Tsarukyan vs. Tony Ferguson listed as the co-main event, giving the June 13 card another UFC-heavy matchup. Tsarukyan has stayed active on the RAF side, including his previously booked RAF 10 wrestling match with Ferguson.
For Chimaev, the Danis match is a quick pivot into a ruleset built around the thing he does best. For Danis, it is a high-profile chance to rebound from the Covington result against one of the most physical grapplers attached to the UFC roster.
