Real American Freestyle has given wrestling fans a reason to imagine matchups that once felt unlikely. Olympic medalists, college standouts, and MMA fighters can share a competitive stage, bringing different audiences together around the sport that connects them.
That opens the door to some interesting possibilities. Professional wrestlers could revisit the skills that shaped their careers. Fighters could compete without strikes or submissions. Athletes who built their reputations in freestyle could reach viewers who have never watched a World Championship.
Our wish list brings together all three, along with a few names who deserve more attention. From established champions to less obvious crossover picks, these are 13 wrestlers we would love to see make their RAF debuts.
Julius Creed (Jacob Kasper)
Julius Creed’s athleticism is part of what makes him stand out in professional wrestling. Like Brock Lesnar, he made the jump from accomplished collegiate heavyweight to WWE powerhouse, with ambitions that extend to the Octagon.
Before becoming a Creed Brother, Jacob Kasper was a two-time NCAA All-American at Duke. He finished sixth at heavyweight in 2017 and fourth in 2018, establishing himself among the program’s most accomplished wrestlers.
He ultimately chose WWE over pursuing MMA, but his ambition to compete in both helped earn him a place on our list of potential Mr. TKO candidates. With that competitive itch still there, RAF feels like a compelling opportunity to revisit the wrestling career he left behind.
UFC fighters have already crossed into RAF. We would love to see that crossover extend to WWE, with Creed helping lead the way. It would give him another competitive outlet and offer fans a closer look at the skills behind his larger-than-life performances.
His explosiveness would be an attraction, but the more interesting part would be watching his positioning, timing, and competitive instincts under freestyle rules.
For viewers who discovered him through WWE, his involvement could give them a reason to check out RAF. Those who followed him at Duke would have a reason to reconnect with his career. And for anyone encountering him for the first time, an impressive showing could leave them wanting to see what he can do inside a WWE ring.
Tamyra Mensah-Stock
Tamyra Mensah-Stock has already reached wrestling’s highest level. An Olympic gold medalist in Tokyo and a World champion in 2019 and 2022, she would bring a résumé that needs little introduction to freestyle fans.
Following her departure from WWE, RAF would offer an opportunity to dust off the singlet and return to the discipline in which she became an Olympic champion. Fans who discovered her as Tyra Mae Steele could see firsthand what made her one of the world’s best.
Her Olympic success came at 68 kg, roughly 150 pounds, making RAF’s women’s middleweight division a natural fit for a potential return.
There is also something naturally appealing about her enthusiasm. Mensah-Stock can make the emotion of competition feel accessible, whether someone understands every scoring exchange or is watching wrestling for the first time. Pair that personality with her accomplishments, and there is plenty to build an event around.
Dylan Palacio
Dylan Palacio would bring personality to the buildup and a legitimate wrestling background to the match. A two-time NCAA All-American at Cornell, he has the credentials to support an appearance beyond whatever attention his words might generate.
He is also hilarious. His willingness to talk trash, commit to a bit, and make himself part of the spectacle could give RAF some of its most entertaining promotional material. Palacio is the kind of personality who could get people invested in a match before they have watched a second of his wrestling.
He’s the original “win $100 if you take me down” guy, so he captures that appeal perfectly. There is an immediate hook, plenty of room for fuckery on FOX Nation, and a skilled wrestler who was made for the spotlight. Bringing that energy to RAF could give viewers someone they want to see compete, or get destroyed.
Give him an opponent willing to engage during the buildup, then let the wrestling settle the conversation. Whether fans tune in to see him back up the talk or finally get shut up, Palacio could make the result feel personal.
Islam Makhachev
Islam Makhachev would bring one of the most intriguing questions on this list. How would his grappling translate when the entire contest revolves around freestyle wrestling?
Fans have long debated how he would fare against accomplished NCAA wrestlers, a topic we explored on our YouTube channel after Bo Nickal argued that Makhachev would struggle. His dominance in MMA and accomplishments in combat sambo give that conversation substance, but RAF would offer a chance to move beyond hypotheticals.
Jordan Burroughs has already helped make the case, calling out Makhachev for a wrestling match. An Olympic gold medalist inviting one of MMA’s most dominant grapplers onto the mat is the kind of challenge that makes RAF exactly what the wrestling world has been missing.
Makhachev would not be entering unfamiliar territory. He has trained with elite wrestlers, including Olympic silver medalist Kadi Magomedov.
His strength and control have made elite fighters look overwhelmed. We would love to see how much of that carries over against someone whose career has been built around freestyle. His reputation would bring attention, but watching him adapt to that challenge would make the match worth watching.
Tatiana Suarez
Tatiana Suarez’s wrestling background deserves more attention than a passing mention before an MMA fight. She represented the United States at three senior World Championships, winning bronze in 2008 and 2010 and finishing fifth in 2009.
We explored her journey in our review of The Unbreakable Tatiana Suarez, which puts the setbacks behind her fighting career into perspective. A neck injury and thyroid cancer diagnosis derailed her pursuit of the 2012 Olympics, but her competitive ambitions eventually found another home in MMA.
A RAF appearance would let her wrestling take center stage again. Fans who know her through MMA could see her compete in the sport where she first established herself internationally, and longtime wrestling fans could reconnect with a career interrupted before she had the chance to pursue Olympic gold.
We would also get to see how years of adapting her wrestling for fighting influence a return to freestyle.
Suarez has already proved she belongs on a world-level wrestling mat. Returning with the experience gained throughout her MMA career could make for a compelling new chapter in a story we have enjoyed following.
Mitchell Mesenbrink
Mitchell Mesenbrink’s pace makes him an easy wrestler to want on a televised card. He keeps opponents working, and his willingness to pursue points can turn a match into a sustained test of whether the other wrestler can keep up.
His freestyle credentials include a 2023 U20 World title and a 2025 U23 World title, giving him an established foundation beyond his success at Penn State. He also finished his 2026 collegiate season undefeated with another NCAA championship at 165 pounds.
That weight makes RAF’s welterweight division a natural fit. His experience competing internationally at 74 kg would also give him a familiar starting point for an appearance on RAF’s stage.
For RAF, his approach could be especially valuable. Viewers do not need to understand every technical detail to recognize pressure, urgency, or an opponent struggling to find a break.
We would love to see Mesenbrink against someone capable of matching that pace or forcing him to change it. Either possibility offers the kind of competitive tension that can introduce new fans to freestyle.
Jax Forrest
Jax Forrest would give RAF a chance to showcase a wrestler whose appeal extends beyond the promise of what he might become. His 2026 NCAA championship at Oklahoma State and success at the World Team Trials provide concrete accomplishments to build around.
His creativity is a major reason we would want to see him. The unusual positions and scrambling exchanges associated with his style can reward viewers who stay engaged through moments that initially look settled. Oklahoma State’s profile even identifies him with a “funky” approach to wrestling.
An individual RAF matchup would offer room to introduce that style to a broader audience. Against the right opponent, Forrest could deliver a match people revisit to understand how a particular exchange unfolded.
He would be a strong addition for fans who want the promotion to feature younger wrestling talent alongside its crossover attractions.
AJ Ferrari
AJ Ferrari is a bona fide wrestling superstar. He has the talent, the physique, and the confidence to make sure people notice both. The frustrating part is that he has struggled to get out of his own way.
His ability has never been difficult to recognize. Ferrari won the 2021 NCAA championship at Oklahoma State and earned bronze at the 2018 Cadet Freestyle World Championships. But setbacks and controversy have repeatedly pulled attention away from what he does so well on the mat.
RAF could offer an opportunity to put the wrestling back at the center of the conversation. With a platform on FOX Nation, Ferrari would have a stage suited to both his competitive ability and his appetite for the spotlight.
He is a showboater, and he understands the appeal. The flexing, the swagger, and the looks are all part of the package. He is entertaining, and he gives people reasons to watch before the match even starts. Some would tune in to see him dominate. Others would love to see someone humble him.
The challenge would be making the most of that attention. He has the tools to turn an RAF appearance into something people talk about long after the final whistle.
Mitch McKee
Mitch McKee was an accomplished wrestler long before he stepped into an MMA cage. An NCAA All-American at Minnesota and a silver medalist at the 2017 Junior World Championships in freestyle, he brought a strong foundation into fighting.
What makes his journey appealing is how he built on it. McKee took the time to develop through promotions like Fury FC and LFA before reaching PFL. He worked his way through the regional circuit, gaining experience and evolving into a fighter with more to offer than his wrestling pedigree.
We know what McKee accomplished as a wrestler. We would love to see how the athlete he has become through MMA approaches the sport that started it all.
He may not have the most decorated wrestling résumé on this list, but his combination of freestyle experience and developing MMA talent makes him an interesting pick for RAF. It would also give more fans a chance to discover someone who has put in the work and earned his opportunities.
Jacobe Smith
Jacobe Smith’s athleticism gives us plenty of reasons to want him in RAF. Before his MMA career, he won consecutive NJCAA championships at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in 2015 and 2016, compiling a 76–6 record. He then earned NCAA All-American honors at Oklahoma State in 2018.
He carried that competitive success into fighting, opening his professional MMA career with 13 consecutive victories and finishing each of his first four UFC opponents. His wrestling helped establish the foundation, but his knockout power has given fans another reason to pay attention.
A RAF appearance would give fans drawn to his finishes a chance to discover the accomplished wrestler behind them, and those who followed his collegiate career a chance to see him back on the mat. Smith‘s explosiveness could make for some entertaining exchanges against an opponent willing to meet him head-on.
Kendal Grey
Kendal Grey’s professional wrestling performances become even more impressive when placed alongside her competitive background. Competing under her real name, Peyton Prussin, she won three consecutive national titles at Life University before bringing her skills to WWE.
Julius Creed helped make that transition possible. After her second national championship, he encouraged her to consider WWE and offered to connect her with the right people. She joined the company’s Next in Line program in 2023, opening a door she had not envisioned for herself.
Her ability to pick up professional wrestling has since drawn comparisons to Kurt Angle. It is a flattering comparison, but watching her blend technical wrestling with explosive athleticism makes it easy to understand. She has quickly given fans reasons to appreciate both the competitor she was and the performer she has become.
RAF would offer a chance to bring those worlds together. Her collegiate titles at 109 and 116 pounds suggest a potential home in the promotion’s 120-pound strawweight division, giving the idea a practical starting point.
We would love to see the wrestler behind those Kurt Angle comparisons back in a competitive setting. Grey has already made the transition from the mat to the ring look exciting. A RAF appearance could give her growing audience a reason to follow her in the other direction.
Rinya Nakamura
Rinya Nakamura’s transition into MMA left an intriguing wrestling career behind him. He won the 2017 U23 freestyle World Championship at 61 kg and was pursuing a place at the Tokyo Olympics before choosing to focus on fighting after the Games were postponed. A RAF appearance could revisit a competitive chapter that ended with plenty still to offer.
Fans who discovered Nakamura through MMA would get to watch him in a discipline where he had already achieved international success. With RAF offering a 135-pound bantamweight division, there is also a natural starting point for finding him an opponent. His World title came at roughly that weight, and he competes at bantamweight in MMA.
Nakamura could help RAF build on its Japanese wrestling presence by connecting with the country’s MMA audience. Fans who followed his move into fighting would have a reason to follow him back to the mat, introducing more Japanese MMA fans to RAF. A matchup against an accomplished American collegiate wrestler would give that crossover a compelling competitive hook.
We would love to see that return with the spotlight RAF could put around it. Nakamura committed to a new career when his Olympic plans changed, but that decision did not erase what he accomplished in freestyle. Giving him another stage to show those skills could make him one of the most compelling international additions on this list.
Amit Elor
Amit Elor is the kind of athlete RAF should want to build around. Her gold medal in Paris made her the youngest American Olympic wrestling champion, adding to a résumé that already included senior World titles in 2022 and 2023. She brings accomplishments that can sell a match and the talent to make viewers come back for another.
Her journey has since expanded beyond those accomplishments. After becoming a mother, Elor returned to competition and won the 2026 World Team Trials Challenge tournament. Motherhood and elite competition are both part of her story, and a platform built around individual athletes could give her room to discuss that balance in her own words.
There are potential competitive homes for her, too. Her Olympic success came at 68 kg, roughly matching RAF’s 150-pound middleweight division, while her return at 72 kg could put cruiserweight into consideration. The matchup would depend on her preferred competitive weight, but the opportunity to add another Olympic champion to RAF’s women’s divisions is easy to appreciate.
We would love to see RAF give more women the spotlight and meaningful opponents to share it with. Elor could help make those matches a reason people tune in. Her dominance gives wrestling fans plenty to anticipate, and her return as a mother gives a wider audience another reason to connect with the athlete behind the medals.
