TLDR
- Bo Nickal will face Olympic champion Shirvani Muradov at RAF Moscow on Sept. 5
- Muradov won gold at the 2008 Olympics and is making his RAF debut at age 41
- Nickal is scheduled to wrestle Max McEnelly on Aug. 22 before the Moscow match
- The event is headlined by Khamzat Chimaev vs. Tyron Woodley and airs on Fox Nation
- Nickal is currently 6-1 in the UFC with his last win coming at UFC White House in June
Sources: mmafighting.com | mmamania.com
UFC middleweight contender Bo Nickal will face Olympic wrestling champion Shirvani Muradov at RAF Moscow on Sept. 5. The match will air live on Fox Nation as part of a card headlined by Khamzat Chimaev vs. Tyron Woodley.
RAF announced the matchup on Tuesday. Nickal is joining the promotion’s Moscow event just two weeks after his scheduled bout against Max McEnelly at RAF 12 on Aug. 22 in Cleveland.
Muradov, now 41, won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at 96 kg (approximately 212 pounds) representing Russia at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He will be making his debut with the Real American Freestyle (RAF) wrestling promotion.
Nickal’s Return to Wrestling
Nickal has recently returned to his wrestling roots while maintaining his UFC career. The 30-year-old defeated Jacob Cardenas at RAF’s inaugural event in August 2025.
A planned matchup with MMA veteran Yoel Romero fell through earlier this year. Nickal won three consecutive NCAA Division-I championships before transitioning to mixed martial arts.
Bo Nickal has looked untouchable in MMA. A 100 percent takedown defense rate will do that for your reputation.
Now he's stepping onto a mat in Moscow against a 2008 Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling, Shirvani Muradov, and the sport changes completely. No cage to press… pic.twitter.com/FlMoFiJlcV
— Agent MMA (@agentmma) August 4, 2026
He is currently 6-1 in the UFC. His most recent victory came by first-round knockout over Kyle Daukaus at UFC White House in Washington, D.C. on June 14.
Nickal entered MMA as one of the most hyped prospects in recent years. His wrestling credentials made him an immediate name in the sport.
RAF Moscow Card Details
The main event features former UFC champions Khamzat Chimaev and Tyron Woodley in a catchweight wrestling match. Chimaev and Nickal have been involved in a public war of words over the past few years.
The two fighters may eventually face each other on the RAF wrestling mats. They could also meet inside the UFC Octagon in the future.
The RAF Moscow card includes other high-profile matchups. Anatoly Malykhin will face Pouya Rahmani in a heavyweight bout.
Yusuf Raisov and Marif Piraev are scheduled to compete in the middleweight division. Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs will return to action against Russia’s Magomed Kurbanaliev in another middleweight contest.
Nickal will need to compete twice in a two-week span. His match against 2026 NCAA Division-I champion Max McEnelly takes place on Aug. 22 before the Moscow event on Sept. 5.
RAF has been actively building its roster with mixed martial artists who have wrestling backgrounds. The promotion launched in August 2025 and has scheduled multiple events throughout 2026.
The Sept. 5 event will take place in Moscow, Russia. Fox Nation will broadcast the entire card live for subscribers in the United States.
