Merab Dvalishvili joins RAF Abu Dhabi card on November 14; opponent to be announced

Real American Freestyle confirmed Merab Dvalishvili will compete at RAF Abu Dhabi on November 14 at Etihad Arena, with his opponent still to be revealed.

Former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will compete at Real American Freestyle's Abu Dhabi debut on Saturday, November 14, at Etihad Arena on Yas Island. The promotion confirmed the booking on Tuesday, November 3, via its official X account, writing that Dvalishvili "joins the #RAFABUDHABI card" and that his opponent will be revealed soon. The U.S. broadcast is listed on Fox Nation.

The announcement comes about 10 days after Dvalishvili challenged Petr Yan for the UFC bantamweight title in the UFC 333 co-main event at the same arena. Yan retained by unanimous decision (48-47 on all three cards) on October 24 and took a 2-1 lead in their trilogy, while the UFC awarded both men Fight of the Night.

Third RAF appearance in Abu Dhabi

Dvalishvili already has an established RAF record. According to his Real American Freestyle athlete page, he is 2-1 in the promotion: a 12-1 win over Frankie Edgar at RAF 9 on May 30, an 11-8 win over Henry Cejudo at RAF Georgia on July 11, and a pin loss to Cejudo in their rematch at RAF 12 on August 22. RAF's Tuesday post framed the Abu Dhabi booking with the line "WHO'S FACING THE MACHINE?" but did not name an opponent.

Before UFC 333, Dvalishvili had publicly said he was open to a third RAF match with Cejudo and that Abu Dhabi would be a good place for it. Tuesday's official post does not confirm Cejudo or any other name, so any trilogy talk remains speculation until RAF names the other side of the bout.

Stacked Middle East card

RAF Abu Dhabi is the promotion's first Middle East event. Etihad Arena's listing currently promotes a main event of Khamzat Chimaev challenging Colby Covington for the RAF Cruiserweight Crossover Championship, with Arman Tsarukyan vs Neiman Gracie as co-main, plus Umar Nurmagomedov vs Urijah Faber, Julianna Peña's RAF debut against Diana Avsaragova, and title defenses involving Olympic/world-level wrestlers such as Kyle Dake. Merab's addition puts another former UFC champion on that undercard-or-cofeature slot once his opponent is announced.

Tickets are on sale through Etihad Arena, and RAF directed fans to Fox Nation for the U.S. stream. No weight class, bout length, or start-time detail for Dvalishvili's match was included in the Tuesday post beyond the November 14 Etihad Arena date and the pending opponent reveal.