Colby Covington is finally getting his wish on July 18 when he faces Arman Tsarukyan in the main event at RAF 11 in Milwaukee but why exactly is this the match he wanted so badly he was willing to retire from the UFC to get it?
Because the UFC has reportedly shut down active fighters facing each other in wrestling matches, Covington took the necessary step to tell the promotion he was calling it a career so he could be more active with RAF. On Saturday, Covington scored an impressive 5-4 win over
former UFC champion Chris Weidman, who is a two-time All-American wrestler in his own right, to officially set up the showdown against Tsarukyan in July.
But Covington says his desire to beat Tsarukyan goes further than just setting up a huge match for RAF because he wants to teach the top-ranked UFC lightweight a lesson in humility after some boorish behavior since arriving in wrestling.
“He’s just a fiery young man,” Covington said about Tsarukyan at the RAF 9 post-match press conference. “I just don’t like his antics. Throwing Urijah Faber, a legend of the sport, off the stage. Brawling with guys on the wrestling mat. That’s not professional. That’s not how we act in the wrestling world. That’s not the culture of wrestling.
“I want to set him straight. I want to teach him a lesson. You don’t come to American soil and disrespect us Americans. Now he’s going to have to face one of the greatest Americans that there is in the wrestling world. I plan on dunking him and giving him a wedgie like the little nerd that he is.”
While Tsarukyan’s stardom has certainly exploded since he became a mainstay on the RAF roster, he’s definitely engaged in some questionable behavior along the way.
The biggest example was Tsarukyan punching Georgio Poullas after their first match ended, which caused a massive brawl to break out on stage before security could intervene. As Covington mentioned, Tsarukyan did execute a takedown attempt that led to him launching Urijah Faber off the stage in a dangerous move that thankfully didn’t result in any serious injuries.
But Tsarukyan’s wins thus far in RAF have come against largely outmatched opposition with two matches against Poullas, wins over Faber and Lance Palmer— who were both giving up a huge amount of size in those matches — and now dispatching social influencer Mugzy via tech fall on Saturday.
Covington knows he’s going to be the stiffest test to date for Tsarukyan and he plans on ending his winning streak when they meet in July.
“I didn’t get to see Arman’s performance [at RAF 9],” Covington said. “I was just focusing on my match. I knew I had a dog fight in store. That’s a two-time All-American, former world champion in the UFC, one of the greatest guys. He had 20, 30 pounds on me tonight as you could see out there. I knew I was in for a dog fight. I didn’t care about worrying about anything other than Chris Weidman tonight.
“Thankful I could set up this big match with Arman. He’s been talking a lot of smack. Now there’s no more excuses. He’s got to see me on that mat July 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.”
