Khamzat Chimaev will challenge Colby Covington for the RAF Cruiserweight Crossover Championship in the main event of RAF Abu Dhabi on November 14, Real American Freestyle announced Tuesday.
https://x.com/rafwrestlingusa/status/2104874490513752549The card is RAF’s first in the Middle East and takes place at Etihad Arena, starting at 8 p.m. GST / 1 p.m. ET. It opens a five-year partnership between RAF, the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi and the UAE Wrestling Federation. Chimaev, who has competed under the UAE flag since 2023, gets the home crowd.
Both men are unbeaten under RAF rules, so one zero is going. Covington is 5-0 with wins over Luke Rockhold, Dillon Danis, Chris Weidman, Arman Tsarukyan and Belal Muhammad. He beat Tsarukyan in July to become the inaugural champion, then defended with a 10-0 tech fall over Muhammad at RAF 13. Chimaev is 3-0 after beating Danis, Tyron Woodley and Gilbert Burns, the last by a 15-4 tech fall on that same RAF 13 card.
It’s a fight Chimaev asked for. In his post-match interview after the Burns win, he called for a match with Covington, and the two have been trading shots from afar since Chimaev’s UFC debut year in 2020. RAF had already put Chimaev on the Abu Dhabi card without naming an opponent, as MMA News reported on September 21.
Chimaev has one more RAF match before then, a catchweight bout with Robbie Lawler in the RAF 14 co-main event on October 23 in Las Vegas. Jordan Burroughs, Henry Cejudo and Kyle Snyder are also scheduled for Abu Dhabi.
The date collides with UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden on November 14, headlined by Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit. Chimaev lost his UFC middleweight title to Sean Strickland at UFC 328 in May and has no UFC opponent or date announced.
