Gable Steveson lands UFC vet opponent for RAF 9 debut, Colby Covington vs. Chris Weidman also set

Gable Steveson is set to take on his first UFC veteran. Sort of.

The Olympic champion and blue-chip MMA prospect has agreed to wrestle former UFC heavyweight contender Alexandr Romanov on May 30 in the main event of RAF 9, it was announced Tuesday. The match serves as Steveson's promotional debut for Real American Freestyle's upstart wrestling league.

Also announced for the co-main event of RAF 9 is a matchup between well-known UFC names, former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington and former UFC middleweight titleholder Chris Weidman. Covington is already 2-0 under the RAF umbrella, while Weidman is set to make his debut.

Steveson, 25, is one of the greatest wrestling talents of his era. Along with being a two-time NCAA Division I national champion and two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner — the award given annually to collegiate athletics' top freestyle wrestler — Steveson is best known for his run through the 2020 Olympic Games, where he stunned the global field at just 21 years old to become the youngest freestyle wrestler in his division to ever win gold.

Steveson has since emerged as one of the most highly-touted heavyweight prospects in MMA history.

He is a perfect 4-0 with four knockout wins across multiple combat sports disciplines since making his pro MMA debut in September with a highlight-reel first-round stoppage of Braden Petersen. Steveson transitioned over to Mike Perry's Dirty Boxing promotion for another impressive 15-second knockout of Billy Swanson in October, then followed it with a brutal 24-second knockout of Kevin Hein in an MMA return bout in late November. Stevenson kicked off 2026 with another first-round MMA stoppage, this time against Hugo Lezama, which Uncrowned was cageside in Mexico City to document.

Steveson has not been shy to voice his desire to one day fight in the UFC, and has often cited UFC legend Jon Jones as his primary mentor in MMA. UFC CEO Dana White subsequently confirmed that Steveson is "on the radar, big time" for the promotion.

Steveson also had brief stints with the NFL's Buffalo Bills and WWE before making the full-time transition to MMA.

RAF returns live April 18 with RAF 8 on FOX Nation.