Tyron Woodley is heading back to his wrestling base, and this time the move comes with a new stage. Real American Freestyle has booked the former UFC welterweight champion to face Joaquin Buckley at RAF 12 on August 22 in Cleveland, marking Woodley’s professional wrestling debut on the promotion’s anniversary event card.
Former UFC Champion Tyron Woodley to Face Joaquin Buckley at RAF 12
Woodley has a rich wrestling history. Before his UFC title run, he built a strong college resume at Missouri, where he won the program’s first Big 12 title in 2003 and earned NCAA Division I All-American honors in 2003 and 2005. In MMA, he later reached the top of the UFC welterweight division and logged four successful title defenses during his championship stretch from 2016 to 2018. A former UFC champion with proven wrestling credentials returning to the mat against a current UFC name in Buckley.
The matchup itself has been listed for RAF 12 in Cleveland, with the event page confirming the date and location as August 22, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio. Reports tied to the announcement describe the Woodley-Buckley contest as a catchweight bout and place it on the same Cleveland card that RAF is continuing to build and can be watched on Fox Nation.
Joaquin Buckley is a UFC welterweight from St. Louis who turned pro in 2014 and built his name as an explosive finisher before reaching the promotion in 2020. He dropped his UFC debut against Kevin Holland, then broke through two months later with the spinning back-kick knockout of Impa Kasanganay, a finish that became one of the most replayed stoppages in recent UFC history. After an uneven stretch at middleweight, Buckley found his footing back at 170 pounds, where he put together a strong run that included a doctor-stoppage win over Colby Covington in December 2024.
Still, several names connected to RAF 12 are already in circulation. RAF’s official event page confirms Larry Wheels versus Real Tarzan for the Cleveland show. Coverage published this month identified Real Tarzan as Mike Holston and said that matchup is set for August 22 in Cleveland. Other updates also notes that Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs is attached to the card, though no opponent has been confirmed.
RAF’s summer schedule gives extra context to why this booking stands out now. See RAF Georgia on July 11 in Tbilisi, headlined by Merab Dvalishvili versus Henry Cejudo, followed by RAF 11 on July 18 in Milwaukee with Arman Tsarukyan versus Colby Covington. RAF 11 has also been linked in outside listings to a co-main event between Ben Askren and Belal Muhammad.
