Whoops!
UFC Middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev may have accidentally revealed his next Real American Freestyle (RAF) assignment before the promotion was ready to make it official.
Chimaev returns to the wrestling mats against former UFC Welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns at RAF 13 tomorrow night (Fri., Sept. 18, 2026) inside Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida. However, “Borz” apparently already knows who — and where — he will wrestle next.
During the RAF 13 press conference, Chimaev
was asked who he would like to wrestle next under the RAF banner. He immediately pointed to longtime rival Colby Covington, who left UFC earlier this year to focus on his wrestling career — and seemingly revealed a future matchup in the process.
“Colby is not in the UFC right now, so I think we’re going to wrestle in Abu Dhabi,” Chimaev said before smiling and awkwardly looking around the room. “Uh, I maybe announced that too early. Sorry, guys.”
Well, the cat is out of the bag now.
Neither RAF nor Covington has officially announced the match, and no date was revealed for the promotion’s apparent Abu Dhabi debut. Nevertheless, Chimaev’s hilarious reaction certainly made it seem like the highly anticipated matchup is already being worked on behind the scenes — if it hasn’t been finalized altogether.
Chimaev and Covington were linked to an MMA fight for years while both competed in UFC’s Welterweight division, but the matchup never materialized. Chimaev eventually moved permanently to Middleweight, where he captured the championship, while Covington retired from mixed martial arts after going nearly two years without competing.
The rivalry followed both men to RAF.
Chimaev called Covington out for a wrestling match earlier this year, while “Chaos” recently confirmed he was interested in the matchup under one condition: Chimaev must agree to a reasonable weight. Covington suggested 185 pounds and refused to face the much larger Chimaev near 200 pounds.
Covington has gone undefeated since transitioning to RAF and captured the promotion’s inaugural Cruiserweight Crossover championship by defeating UFC Lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan in July (watch highlights). Before potentially meeting Chimaev in Abu Dhabi, Covington will defend his title against longtime rival Belal Muhammad in tomorrow night’s RAF 13 main event.
Meanwhile, Chimaev will rematch Burns in the co-main event more than four years after narrowly defeating “Durinho” in their unforgettable UFC 273 war. Chimaev is currently 2-0 under the RAF banner and most recently pinned former UFC Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in fewer than two minutes.
Assuming both fighters make it through RAF 13 without suffering an injury, it sounds like Chimaev vs. Covington is finally happening — just several years later and in an entirely different sport.
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