Khamzat Chimaev and Colby Covington will clash in the main event of Real American Freestyle (RAF) Abu Dhabi on Saturday, November 14th.
The fight, which was just announced on RAF’s official social media accounts, will be for the RAF Cruiserweight Crossover Championship. It is the culmination of weeks of speculation that the long stewing fight between two former UFC champions would finally come to pass.
Chimaev vs. Covington has been the goal of RAF for this big Abu Dhabi card for a long time, but Covington’s
participation was in question after the organization announced Chimaev’s participation back on September 21st without an opponent. “Borz” will also fight at RAF 14 in Las Vegas on October 24th against “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler.
Former UFC interim champion Covington has also been busy with RAF since retiring from UFC competition back in May. He’s fought three times for them since then (five times in total) and remains undefeated with the organization. He holds wins over Belal Muhammad, Arman Tsarukyan, Chris Weidman, Dillon Danis, and Luke Rockhold.
As for Chimaev, he’s bounced back from a lackluster performance at UFC 328 against Sean Strickland that cost him his UFC middleweight title. He’s gone 3-0 in RAF with wins over Gilbert Burns, Tyron Woodley, and Dillon Danis.
While Chimaev has been pushing for a quick return to UFC action, his participation in RAF in October and November points to no upcoming MMA bout being booked for the popular Chechen fighter until 2027.
RAF Abu Dhabi goes down from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE on Saturday November 14th at 8 p.m. GST / 1 p.m. EST.
