Kyle Snyder Calls Out Wyatt Hendrickson After RAF Moscow Title Win
Kyle Snyder called out RAF heavyweight champion Wyatt Hendrickson on Saturday after defending his light heavyweight title in Moscow. Real American Freestyle posted the clip with the caption “KYLE SNYDER CALLS OUT WYATT HENDRICKSON,” putting the two American champions on a collision course that has not been booked.
The challenge came after Snyder beat 2024 Olympic champion Akhmed Tazhudinov 11-5 at RAF Moscow. The 215-pound title match was held at Mytishchi Arena in Moscow Oblast, Russia.
Snyder, 30, remains the RAF light heavyweight champion. Hendrickson, 25, is the unbeaten RAF heavyweight champion and has not lost inside the promotion.
MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin reported that Snyder also mentioned a rematch with Abdulrashid Sadulaev, a match with Yoel Romero, or a move up to face Gable Steveson. The official RAF post put Hendrickson first.
Hendrickson won the RAF heavyweight belt at the promotion’s first event in August 2025. He has since beaten Mason Parris by technical fall at RAF 04 and Trent Hillger by decision at RAF 07.
The Oklahoma State product also won the 2025 NCAA heavyweight title, beating Steveson 5-4 in the final. He is a U.S. Air Force second lieutenant in the World Class Athlete Program and has said he is aiming at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Snyder is a different kind of resume. The Ohio State product won Olympic gold at 97 kilograms in Rio in 2016, becoming the youngest American Olympic wrestling champion.
He later took silver at the Tokyo Games and has stacked world titles at 97 kilograms, including gold in 2015, 2017, 2022, and 2025. In RAF, he has held the light heavyweight belt since beating Tazhudinov on criteria at RAF 07 on March 28.
That first RAF meeting flipped their history. Tazhudinov is the only man to beat Snyder by technical fall, an 11-0 result, and he also beat Snyder at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Snyder answered at RAF 07, then kept the belt against Rizabek Aitmukhan, Givi Matcharashvili, and Sadulaev. On July 11 in Tbilisi, he pinned Sadulaev with 1:35 left to retain the title.
Saturday’s 11-5 win was their second RAF meeting and Snyder’s latest defense on Russian soil. Tazhudinov, wrestling for Bahrain at the Olympics, could not get the same runaway score he once posted.
A move up to heavyweight would be a size jump. Hendrickson competes at 125 kilograms in international freestyle and at the RAF heavyweight limit, while Snyder’s title sits at 215 pounds.
Nothing has been announced. Snyder’s comments were a callout, not a signed match, and Hendrickson has not answered in a confirmed public statement since the reel went up.
The rest of the RAF Moscow card continued later Saturday, with Khamzat Chimaev vs. Tyron Woodley still scheduled as the main event. Snyder’s next RAF date will depend on whether the promotion books Hendrickson, Steveson, Sadulaev, or another name from that list.