The Real American Freestyle (RAF) promotion has announced that Khamzat Chimaev will headline its RAF 10 event, taking place on June 13th in St. Louis at the Chaifetz Arena. He is set to face Dillon Danis in the main event, with the fight taking place at catchweight. This marks Chimaev’s debut for RAF, a promotion specializing in unscripted freestyle wrestling bouts featuring MMA and grappling athletes. The event will be streamed live on Fox Nation.
Chimaev vs. Danis Announced for St. Louis Card
Chimaev enters this contest following his first professional MMA loss. He was defeated by Sean Strickland via split decision for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 328 on May 9th. Prior to this defeat, Chimaev had secured the championship by unanimously outpointing Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 in August.
The 32-year-old fighter, who hails from Chechnya and Sweden, has a strong wrestling background. He achieved a bronze medal at the junior nationals and secured Swedish freestyle titles in the welterweight and middleweight divisions in 2018. Chimaev also holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and had an undefeated 15-0 MMA record with nine first-round finishes before his bout with Strickland.
Dillon Danis brings a distinct grappling pedigree to the match. The 32-year-old native of New Jersey earned his black belt in BJJ at the age of 21 under the tutelage of Marcelo Garcia, having begun training at 15. He won the 2016 Pan No-Gi Championship and secured two submission victories in Bellator MMA, with his last appearance in 2019. Danis claimed the inaugural Misfits MMA light heavyweight title last August by submitting Warren Spencer in 15 seconds. His debut in RAF occurred at RAF 7 in March, where he lost to Colby Covington by a technical fall with a score of 14-4.
A long-standing rivalry exists between Chimaev and Danis, with Danis having a history of confrontations with individuals associated with Chimaev’s Chechen-Dagestani circle. This includes an incident in 2018 with Islam Makhachev’s team after UFC 229. UFC CEO Dana White had previously banned Danis from events following an altercation at UFC 322 in 2025 involving Makhachev’s team. Danis also previously offered to replace Chimaev during a UFC event withdrawal. The narrative of Chimaev facing Danis after his recent UFC loss has already sparked discussion among fans on social media.
Beyond the main event, RAF 10 features a strong undercard. Tony Ferguson will face Arman Tsarukyan in a middleweight co-main event bout. Other scheduled fights include Rizabek Aitmukhan vs. Hayden Zillmer at light heavyweight, Lance Palmer vs. Aaron Pico at lightweight, and Haji Aliyev vs. Sebastian Rivera, also at lightweight. Chimaev’s signing with RAF last month aligns with the promotion’s expansion, attracting prominent names from the MMA world to its wrestling format. This main event signifies RAF’s ambition to host events in larger venues like the Chaifetz Arena, which has a capacity of approximately 10,000.
The bout is poised to be a test of Chimaev’s freestyle wrestling prowess against Danis’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expertise within a pure wrestling context. Chimaev’s national wrestling accolades suggest strong takedowns and control, while Danis’s game is built on submission chains derived from his grappling tournament experience.
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Dillon Danis Booked for RAF10 Main Event
Khamzat Chimaev is set to headline Real American Freestyle’s RAF 10 event on June 13th in St. Louis against Dillon Danis. The catchweight bout will be Chimaev’s debut for the freestyle wrestling promotion, and the event streams on Fox Nation.