RAF Co-Founder Izzy Martinez Wants Khabib Nurmagomedov on Wrestling Mats
Real American Freestyle co-founder Izzy Martinez wants Khabib Nurmagomedov on the wrestling mats, and he says the invitation is already in front of the retired UFC champion. Speaking at a Fox Nation press event with Jordan Burroughs seated beside him, Martinez made it clear that RAF would welcome one of MMA’s biggest names if Nurmagomedov ever chose to compete.
The question came because of that company. An interviewer noted that Burroughs, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion often called the greatest American wrestler of all time, was sitting next to Martinez and asked whether he was telling Nurmagomedov to get involved.
Martinez treated Burroughs’ presence as proof of what the league is assembling. He said the Olympic champion was part of a larger group already committed to RAF’s current show.
“It’s just inspiring,” Martinez said.
He pointed to the depth around him on the upcoming card.
“But there’s five on this card,” Martinez said.
He then turned directly to Nurmagomedov. The former UFC lightweight champion has not fought since Oct. 24, 2020, when he submitted Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, retired at 29-0, and entered the UFC Hall of Fame in 2022.
“Khabib knows exactly what we’re doing,” Martinez said.
The RAF executive did not claim a deal was close, and he did not attach Nurmagomedov to a date, opponent, or weight class.
“We’d love to have him,” Martinez said.
He framed the situation as an open door, not a negotiation. In Martinez’s view, the decision belongs to the athletes RAF is trying to recruit.
“It’s their choice on what they want to compete in,” he said.
That is the limit of the news. RAF has spent its first year mixing Olympic wrestlers with UFC stars in a professional freestyle format, and a Nurmagomedov appearance would immediately become the league’s highest-profile crossover. Martinez did not say Nurmagomedov had agreed to anything.
The comments arrived on the eve of a major homecoming date. RAF 12, the promotion’s one-year anniversary event, is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 22, at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, the same city that hosted the league’s debut in 2025, and the card streams on Fox Nation.
Burroughs is booked in the co-main event against UFC welterweight Sean Brady. Former UFC champions Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo headline for the inaugural RAF Lightweight Crossover Championship, with other MMA-linked matches including Tyron Woodley vs. Joaquin Buckley and Bo Nickal vs. Max McEnelly.
Martinez, RAF’s chief operating officer, helped found the league in 2025 with Chad Bronstein, Eric Bischoff, and the late Hulk Hogan. His job has been to connect the product to elite wrestling rooms and the MMA world, which is why a question about Nurmagomedov was always likely to come up.
Few retired fighters still carry this kind of gravity. Nurmagomedov’s undefeated UFC run was built on chain wrestling, takedowns, and control on the mat, and he remains one of the most recognizable figures in combat sports after nearly six years away from competition.
He has stayed around the sport as a coach, most visibly with the Dagestani fighters who came up behind him. Coaching is not the same as putting on shoes and competing under RAF rules, and Martinez did not suggest Nurmagomedov had agreed to do that.
The league’s recent bookings explain why the idea is being floated now. UFC names such as Dvalishvili, Cejudo, Arman Tsarukyan, Colby Covington, and Khamzat Chimaev have already crossed over, and Burroughs makes his RAF debut Saturday before a second match on Sept. 5 in Moscow against 2016 world champion Magomed Kurbanaliev.
A Nurmagomedov booking would sit in a different category. His 29-0 record and Hall of Fame standing have been untouched since the night he walked away in Abu Dhabi.
Martinez did not try to close that gap in public. He said RAF wants him, believes Nurmagomedov understands the product, and is leaving the choice with the athlete.
The next confirmed date on the calendar is Saturday in Cleveland. If Nurmagomedov ever decides he wants a wrestling match, Martinez has now said on the record that Real American Freestyle is ready to make room.