Blades, Oliver earn championship belts, Lee upset at RAF 03 in Chicago

CHICAGO – A pair of Featherweight championship belts were on the line at RAF 03 on Saturday night at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena; 2024 Olympic Silver medalist Kennedy Blades cruised to the women’s title in her first RAF appearance, and 2020 Olympic Trials champion Jordan Oliver posted an upset special to secure the men’s strap.

Blades took an 11-0 technical fall over Alejandra Rivera of Mexico, ending things in the second period with a five-takedown performance.

Oliver stunned 2025 World bronze medalist and then-RAF title holder Real Woods on criteria, 2-2. Oliver scored a step-out in the final moments of the match to clinch the win.

The upset of the night came at Men’s Bantamweight—Ukraine’s Andrii Yatsenko pinned 2024 Olympic silver medalist Spencer Lee in the waning moments of the contest. Lee was up 9-4 before Yatsenko went feet-to-back for the pin.

Two others earned pins on the evening—2024 Olympic champion Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain stuck Anthony Cassioppi in the Men’s Unlimited division, and two-time age-group World champion Bo Bassett electrified the crowd of over 5,000 spectators with a first-period pin against Darrion Caldwell at Men’s Featherweight.

The main event of the night was a Men’s Middleweight contest between Chad Mendes and Michael Chandler, past NCAA All-Americans turned MMA stars. Chandler took the match, 4-1.

Off the mat, a primetime title match was announced for RAF 05 between reigning Men’s Cruiserweight champion Kyle Dake and Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau. The two met at the Tokyo Olympics with Kadzimahamedau winning by technical fall. Dake went on to win bronze in Tokyo, and Kadzimahamedau silver.

Complete results from RAF 03 are available below. RAF 04 is set for December 20 in Fishers, Indiana, with tickets still up for purchase on Ticketmaster.

More information on RAF is available at realamericanfreestyle.com.