Marsteller beats reigning 79kg World champ in RAF debut
The deciding takedown came inside the last 30 seconds of his first Real American Freestyle match.
Chance Marsteller beat reigning 79 kg World champion Georgios Kougioumtsidis 8-6 in his RAF debut at RAF 13.
Marsteller scored the takedown that decided it inside the final 30 seconds, per Saturday Night Lights, who noted Kougioumtsidis won the 2025 World title at the weight. Justin Basch posted the result as it happened and called it a "Great W for Chance."
Marsteller scores a takedown in the final 30 seconds to knock off 2025 World Champion Georgios Kougioumtsidis (GRE), 8-6.
Great W for Chance.
That is a returning World champ losing to a first-time RAF entrant in an eight-point freestyle match, and it is the kind of scalp that sets Marsteller up for the next card.
What the sources say and do not say
The two accounts disagree on one detail. Basch identified Kougioumtsidis as representing Georgia, while Saturday Night Lights listed him as GRE. Neither post explained the discrepancy, and nothing else in either source clarifies it.
Neither post gave a running score, a period breakdown or how Marsteller built to 8-6 before the late takedown. Neither said whether the match was a one-off booking or the start of a run for Marsteller in the promotion, and no future opponent has been named.
RAF has been stacking its cards with senior-level names. Kyle Dake beat Magomedkhan Kadimagomedov 7-6 on a last-second step out at RAF in Moscow, covered earlier, and RAF 14 has already added Vito Arujau and Sarah Hildebrandt bouts. Marsteller now has a result on that same circuit that stands up against anyone's.
What to watch: whether RAF books Marsteller again, and whether Kougioumtsidis gets a rematch.