PHILADELPHIA, PA (February 24, 2026) — Actual American Freestyle (RAF), the primary unscripted skilled freestyle wrestling league, at this time introduced that RAF08 will happen at Philadelphia’s Liacouras Heart on Saturday, April 18, streaming reside solely on FOX Nation.
The ten,000-seat enviornment — positioned on the campus of Temple College — turns into the newest main venue to host RAF because the league continues its growth into premier markets throughout the nation.
Headlining RAF08 is MMA bantamweight standout Merab Dvalishvili, making his official RAF debut. Previous to December 2025, Dvalishvili constructed a 14-fight win streak — the longest in UFC bantamweight historical past — and holds the document for many takedowns in UFC historical past. Recognized for hisgrappling dominance, his tempo and pedigree convey certainly one of fight sports activities’ most dominant athletes onto wrestling’s new principal stage.
All RAF occasions stream solely on FOX Nation. Further matchups for RAF08 might be introduced within the coming weeks. Pre-sale tickets will go reside on Wednesday February twenty fifth, with basic on-sale on Friday February twenty seventh. Followers can join pre-sale entry atrealamericanfreestyle.com
“Philadelphia is a combat metropolis, and RAF belongs on the largest phases,” stated Chad Bronstein, CEO and Co-Founding father of Actual American Freestyle. “Merab is elite, relentless, and rooted in wrestling.
When athletes of his caliber step onto the RAF stage, it reinforces what this league represents — the skilled house for the game’s finest.”
RAF08 continues a red-hot begin to 2026. RAF06 takes place this Saturday in Tempe, Arizona, headlined by Henry Cejudo vs. Urijah Faber in entrance of a bought out crowd. RAF07 follows March 28 on the Yuengling Heart in Tampa, that includes Kyle Dake vs. Parker Keckeisen, Bo Bassett vs. Vladimer Khinchegashvili, and extra. The day after RAF07, Sunday March twenty ninth, RAF will even host a wrestling clinic, the place younger followers and aspiring wrestlers will be capable to prepare with and be coached by RAF athletes. Extra info might be introduced quickly.
In January, Actual American Freestyle prolonged its unique media partnership with FOX Nation by a multi-year settlement. Amazon Prime Subscribers additionally now have the choice to bundle Fox Nation with the Fox One streaming service in a single subscription on Prime Video, giving “cord-cutters” entry to the entire portfolio of Fox’s main information, sports activities and leisure content material multi functional app for $24.99 month-to-month. RAF is a prime subscription driver for FOX Nation, producing greater than 170 billion earned media impressions and over 500 million natural social views to this point. The league has additionally surpassed seven figures in each ticket and merchandise income because it continues to scale.
