Frankie Edgar says Cejudo is being favoured for the RAF 12 rematch

Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo will meet again at RAF 12 on August 22 for the crossover lightweight championship. The rematch comes after Dvalishvili overturned a sizeable deficit to beat Cejudo in their first Real American Freestyle contest.

Frankie Edgar believes Cejudo has been given another opportunity partly because the result of that first meeting was not what organisers expected. Edgar described the decision to book a second RAF contest as favourable to the former Olympic champion, while insisting that Dvalishvili should not be dismissed.

Cejudo controlled much of the opening contest and built a substantial lead on the mats. Dvalishvili then produced a late surge, scoring 11 unanswered points to complete a major comeback and claim victory.

The result was another reversal in a rivalry that had already carried over from mixed martial arts. Dvalishvili had previously defeated Cejudo in the UFC before the pair moved into Real American Freestyle, making their first RAF meeting a further chapter in an existing contest between the two fighters.

Edgar has experience of both men’s RAF form. Dvalishvili beat him in competition, but the former UFC lightweight champion responded by defeating Clay Guida on points at RAF 11. That run gives Edgar a direct basis for assessing the rematch, although he remains unwilling to rule out another Dvalishvili comeback.

Cejudo enters RAF 12 as a former Olympic gold medalist, a distinction Edgar noted despite the time that has passed since that achievement. Dvalishvili will seek to repeat the recovery that settled their previous meeting, while Cejudo gets the chance to turn an early advantage into a decisive result this time.