Colby Covington will absolutely face Belal Muhammad in a wrestling match, but it’s just a matter of when.
Both competitors were victorious this past weekend at RAF 11 over Arman Tsarukyan and Ben Askren, respectively, and the matchup between Covington and Muhammad was made official as the co-main event of RAF 12 in Cleveland for Covington’s newly-won cruiserweight crossover title on Aug. 22. Following the announcement, Muhammad went after Covington at the post-event press conference, and security intervened.
RAF co-founder Chad Bronstein jumped up quickly to help separate the two competitors, and was shocked the situation happened.
“I didn’t think it was going to happen, no, but I could tell there’s heat happening, right?,” Bronstein told MMA Fighting. “I was right in the middle of it as you saw. I was first, I was right up in the middle of it trying to stop it immediately, but I did not think that was gonna happen.
“I thought there was gonna be severe trash talk between the two of them. They don’t like each other. But I didn’t think there was gonna be any physicalities that happened, and I was tired from two weeks of traveling, I really wasn’t looking forward to jumping up in the middle of a scuffle, but my intuition made me do it.
“But no, I did not expect that. But these two have tons of tension, right? I know both of those guys. I know them personally, I have a great relationship with both of them, and I, truthfully, didn’t think they were going to do that because I also know, as much trash talk they both do, they’re actually both ultimate professionals.”
Since the near-brawl, Covington told Submission Radio he was pulling the matchup altogether, but told MMA Fighting that he “might” move on to another opponent.
Bronstein says Covington is potentially correct about one aspect, but he will wrestle Muhammad for sure.
“So one… Colby is an investor, but at the end of the day, Izzy and myself will make the decision for the matches, and he knows that,” Bronstein said. “And two, he’s going to wrestle Belal. The question is, is it going to happen in Cleveland, or is it going to happen in Miami? But it will, we’re figuring out right now it’s set for Cleveland, but he’s definitely wrestling Belal.
“[We’ll probably know in] the next day or so.”
Should Muhammad not be able to compete at RAF 12, Bronstein says Covington will face another top-ranked UFC competitor at the event — one that likely ensures Muhammad will still be in attendance to watch “Chaos” compete before they square off on Sept. 19 at RAF 13.
“Colby will wrestle in Cleveland no matter what,” Bronsten explained. “If Belal doesn’t wrestle in Cleveland, and he’ll wrestle in Miami, it’s going to be Branden Allen that will step in to compete against Colby in Cleveland.
“Belal and Brandon Allen are friends, right? So it’s good. … But right now, Belal is still set. But if he can’t, then it’s going to be Miami.”
Covington is now 4-0 competing for the promotion, which includes tech fall victories over former UFC middlweweight champ Luke Rockhold, and jiu-jitsu ace Dillon Danis. Covington earned his opportunity to face Tsarukyan for the inaugural crossover title with a win over Chris Weidman at RAF 9 in May.
Bronstein says that fans looking forward to Covington being an active competitor throughout the rest of 2026 will be excited to know that’s the plan.
“Colby wants to compete constantly for his title,” Bronstein said. “He’s saying that anyone [can] jump in, he’s ready to go. You’ll see Colby pretty active from Cleveland to Miami, to an international show with the main event. There’s a lot of things booked for Colby. We just can’t give you all of the details.”
