DUBAI
\nWrestling has produced Olympic champions, world champions and some of mixed martial arts\u2019 biggest stars, but for all that talent, the sport has rarely had a professional stage capable of keeping athletes and fans engaged throughout the year. Real American Freestyle CEO and co-founder Chad Bronstein believes that is the opportunity in front of the promotion. \u201cThe biggest thing is consistency,\u201d Bronstein told Arab News recently.
\n\u201cWrestling already has professional athletes and superstars. What it has never really had is a permanent home.\u201d Launched in August 2025, the RAF is trying to provide that home by combining elite wrestling with the crossover appeal of some of combat sports\u2019 most recognizable names.
\nThat approach will be on full display when the RAF makes its Middle East debut at Abu Dhabi\u2019s Etihad Arena on Nov. 14, bringing together UFC stars including Khamzat Chimaev, Colby Covington, Arman Tsarukyan and Umar Nurmagomedov, alongside some of the most decorated names in wrestling. For Bronstein, the star power is an important starting point, but what happens after fans tune in for the first time is just as important.
\n\u201cThe stars get people in the door,\u201d he said. \u201cThe job after that is to make sure the product is good enough that they come back for RAF. The athletes are powerful drivers of awareness. The RAF platform has to create retention.\u201d The Abu Dhabi card will also feature multiple championship bouts, adding competitive stakes to the mix of elite wrestling and crossover matchups that have become central to the RAF\u2019s identity.
\nBronstein believes the depth of talent has been a major factor in the promotion\u2019s rapid growth.
\n\u201cThe biggest driver has been concentration of talent,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have been able to bring together Olympic champions, world champions and major combat sports names in a format that feels modern, premium, fun and easy for fans to understand.\u201d
\nThe Abu Dhabi event comes just over a year after the RAF launched in the US and follows international events in Tbilisi and Moscow. \u201cWe believed the market was there. What has surprised us is how quickly the model has validated,\u201d Bronstein added. Abu Dhabi, however, represents more than another stop on the RAF\u2019s international calendar.
\nThe Nov. 14 event will begin a five-year partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism \u2013 Abu Dhabi and the UAE Wrestling Federation, giving the promotion an opportunity to establish a long-term presence in a region Bronstein sees as a natural fit for the sport. \u201cAbu Dhabi is a big milestone for us because it shows that RAF is already becoming a global property,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThe region already has a real appetite for wrestling and combat sports, and Abu Dhabi has built the infrastructure and audience for major events.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe five-year partnership gives us the ability to build a real presence in the region, develop local audiences, deepen federation relationships and create lasting value over time.\u201d The natural connection between wrestling and MMA is another important part of the RAF\u2019s growth strategy.
\nMany elite MMA fighters have wrestling backgrounds, while fans of the two sports often overlap. The RAF is tapping into that relationship by giving established fighters another competitive stage and creating matchups that can appeal to audiences beyond traditional wrestling circles. \u201cA lot of elite MMA fighters came from wrestling and still love competing in it,\u201d Bronstein said. \u201cRAF gives them another stage where they can stay active, compete under a different ruleset and create new matchups that fans already understand.\u201d
\nThe crossover can also help the RAF reach fans on both sides of the combat sports divide. \u201cAt the same time, it exposes wrestling fans to personalities they may know from MMA and exposes MMA fans to high-level wrestling,\u201d Bronstein said. \u201cThat crossover is good for everybody.\u201d But Bronstein\u2019s vision for the RAF is not built solely around established stars.
\nThe RAF NEXT GEN show will make its international debut in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 15, bringing together young wrestlers from different countries, with finalists earning the opportunity to compete on the same Etihad Arena stage as the professionals \u201cFrom the beginning, we believed that building RAF meant elevating the entire sport,\u201d Bronstein said.
\n\u201cNEXT GEN is a big part of that because it gives young wrestlers a stage, a pathway and something tangible to aspire to.\u201d For Bronstein, developing the next generation is part of a much broader challenge. His vision is not simply to stage high-profile events, but to create a professional structure that athletes can progress through and fans can follow throughout the year.
\n\u201cWrestling has never had a problem with talent,\u201d he said. \u201cThe missing piece has been a scalable commercial system around them. \u201cIf you build that infrastructure and give fans a reason to follow the sport all year, not just during the Olympics or NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) season, the ceiling becomes much higher.\u201d Tickets for RAF Abu Dhabi at Etihad Arena on Nov. 14 are available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DUBAI Wrestling has produced Olympic champions, world champions and some of mixed martial arts\u2019 biggest stars, but for all that talent, the sport has rarely had a professional stage capable of keeping athletes and fans engaged throughout the year. Real American Freestyle CEO and co-founder Chad Bronstein believes that is the opportunity in front of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":104799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104785"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104809,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104785\/revisions\/104809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}