Snyder defends RAF light heavyweight belt vs Erdogan Nov 14
Erdogan has not wrestled a freestyle match since 2018 and is 13-0 in MMA, per Jon Kozak.
Kyle Snyder will defend the RAF Light Heavyweight Championship against Shamil Erdogan on November 14 at Etihad Arena, Real American Freestyle announced. The promotion is billing the card as #RAFABUDHABI and says tickets are on sale now.
Kyle Snyder defends the RAF Light Heavyweight Championship vs Shamil Erdogan at Etihad Arena on NOV 14
The opponent is the part that will make fans stop scrolling. Jon Kozak posted that Erdogan won bronze at the 2014 World Championships but had the medal stripped after a failed drug test, and that his last freestyle match was a 10-0 loss to Elizbar Odikadze at the 2018 Tbilisi Grand Prix. Kozak adds that Erdogan has since moved to MMA and is currently 13-0.
A title fight with an eight year gap
That is the whole file on Erdogan as a freestyler right now. Nobody at RAF has said why he got the title shot, and no explanation of the matchmaking has been offered publicly. What is confirmed is the belt, the date, the building and the opponent.
Snyder holds the RAF Light Heavyweight Championship going in. Putting it on the line against an undefeated MMA fighter whose last recorded freestyle result was a tech fall loss in 2018 is the kind of booking RAF has leaned into as it builds cards around names rather than brackets.
Why it matters
Abu Dhabi is a new market for the promotion, and the belt is the draw. For the wrestling audience, the question is simple. Does an opponent eight years removed from the freestyle mat give Snyder anything resembling a test, or is this a showcase date on a show that needs a champion on the poster.
Things to watch
1. November 14 at Etihad Arena, with the light heavyweight title on the line.
2. Whether RAF fills out the rest of the Abu Dhabi card with similar crossover bookings. The promotion's next show before that, RAF 14, runs October 23.
Shamil Erdogan won bronze at the 2014 World Championships but had it stripped after a failed drug test.
He's since transitioned to MMA and is currently 13-0.