Sanctions avoided! RAF Moscow abruptly changes venue two days before Khamzat Chimaev vs. Tyron Woodley

Real American Freestyle (RAF) has abruptly relocated this weekend’s RAF Moscow event from VTB Arena to Arena Mytishchi just two days before the star-studded wrestling card takes place.

The promotion announced the venue change in a press release Thursday, confirming that existing ticket holders will receive instructions from the original venue on how to update their tickets.

RAF did not reveal why it moved the event.

However, the sudden switch comes less than three weeks after ESPN reported that holding the event at VTB Arena would likely violate United States sanctions against Russia.

According to the report, VTB Arena is operated by VTB Arena LLC, a subsidiary of BM-Bank, which is owned by VTB Bank. Both banks are subject to U.S. sanctions related to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, generally prohibiting American citizens and businesses from conducting transactions with them without special permission from the U.S. Treasury Department.

Two sanctions experts told ESPN that RAF’s agreement to hold an event at the venue likely conflicted with those restrictions. RAF declined to say whether it had applied for or received a special government license that would allow it to conduct business with the sanctioned entities.

FOX Nation subsequently told ESPN that it would not stream the Moscow event. It is currently unclear whether the move to Arena Mytishchi will change the broadcaster’s decision.

RAF CEO and co-founder Chad Bronstein did not address the sanctions controversy in Thursday’s announcement.

“Moscow has been one of the events we’ve been most excited about since we started building RAF,” Bronstein said. “Look at the athletes on this card: Olympic and world champions alongside some of the biggest names in wrestling and combat sports. All coming together on one mat. We’re here, we’re ready and we’re going to put on an incredible show Saturday night.”

The event will still take place this Saturday (Sept. 5, 2026) and remains headlined by former UFC champions Khamzat Chimaev and Tyron Woodley.

Russian wrestling legend Abdulrashid Sadulaev meets Zac Braunagel in the co-main event. The card also includes Kyle Snyder vs. Akhmed Tazhudinov, Kyle Dake vs. Kadik, and Kennedy Blades vs. Vusala Parfianovich. Jordan Burroughs and Bo Nickal are also on the card.

While RAF has not officially connected the venue change to ESPN’s report, moving the card away from VTB Arena seemingly removes the central sanctions issue surrounding the event.

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