Arman Tsarukyan is no longer undefeated in RAF, as he fell to Colby Covington in the main event of RAF 11. Covington became the inaugural Crossover Cruiserweight champion in the process.
Tsarukyan got a front headlock in the opening stages of the bout, but Covington’s defense prevented him from doing anything with it. Tsarukyan was then put on the shot clock, and that led to Covington scoring the bout’s first point. Covington then rolled Tsarukyan through after an unsuccessful takedown, scoring two points.
Tsarukyan looked for a big slam during the second period, but he settled for a takedown and two points. Tsarukyan was flattened on his stomach in the closing seconds of period two, as Covington prevented Tsarukyan’s takedown attempt and scored another two points, giving him a 5-2 lead entering the final period.
Covington was put on the shot clock during the third, and Tsarukyan earned a point from it with 35 seconds left. Tsarukyan went for broke, looking for a takedown. Covington sprawled, and the whistle blew, resetting the two. Covington then defended another Tsarukyan takedown attempt as the clock expired, giving him the crossover championship.
Colby Covington Becomes Inaugural Crossover Champion, Defeats Arman Tsarukyan At RAF 11
Covington, a former NCAA All-American and Pac-10 conference champion, entered tonight 3-0 in RAF. He has scored technical fall victories over Luke Rockhold and Dillon Danis, as well as a 5-4 win over Chris Weidman at RAF 09 in May.
Covington called out Khamzat Chimaev, Belal Muhammad, and Tyron Woodley following the bout.
Tsarukyan has been one of the faces of the RAF brand, if not the face, since his promotional debut at the start of this year. Since RAF 05, he has competed at every RAF event. He competed at RAF Georgia last week, scoring a technical fall over Kuat Khamitov.
