Colby Covington Says He Will Wrestle Sean Strickland at Any Weight
Colby Covington rejected a report that he turned down a wrestling match with Sean Strickland and said he will compete at any weight Strickland wants on October 23.
The former interim UFC welterweight champion posted the reply after Championship Rounds cited reporter Alex Behunin. That report said Covington passed on a Real American Freestyle date with Strickland at RAF 14 in Las Vegas.
According to the report, Strickland was interested in the match but wanted a 200-pound catchweight. Covington wanted 190 pounds.
Covington called that account fake news and put the offer in public.
“Fake news,” he wrote. “I’ll wrestle @sstricklandmma at any weight he wants October 23rd @RAFWrestlingUSA in Las Vegas.”
He tagged RAF-connected names Chad Bronstein, IzzyStyle, and Eric Bischoff and told them to book it.
The match is not on the announced RAF 14 card. RAF 14 is set for October 23 at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, with Arman Tsarukyan vs. Dillon Danis in the main event for the middleweight crossover title.
Khamzat Chimaev is already booked that night against Robbie Lawler. The promotion’s own schedule lists Covington against Chimaev later, at RAF Abu Dhabi on November 14.
That context matters. Covington is not sitting idle and waiting for a celebrity crossover. He is the RAF cruiserweight crossover champion after a 10-0 technical fall over Belal Muhammad at RAF 13 in Miami.
He is 5-0 in RAF since leaving the UFC focus behind, with wins over Luke Rockhold, Danis, Chris Weidman, Tsarukyan, and Muhammad. The weight debate in the original report fits a pattern he has already used with larger opponents.
Covington has previously said he wanted a reasonable number against bigger names. He floated 185 pounds for a wrestling match with Chimaev and refused to meet him near 200. A 190-pound request against Strickland would have been consistent with that stance.
His new post changes the public position. He is no longer arguing the number. He is saying the date and the opponent are fine at whatever weight Strickland picks.
Strickland’s calendar is the other half of the story. The UFC middleweight champion reclaimed the belt from Chimaev at UFC 328 and has said a title fight with Nassourdine Imavov is close, with pay still being discussed.
That bout has been linked to UFC 335 on December 12 in Las Vegas. The UFC has not made it official. A wrestling date on October 23 would sit six weeks before that December window if both sides actually sign it.
The two men have circled each other for years in interviews, not on a contract. Covington has called Strickland a cardio kickboxer and said he would beat him everywhere. Strickland has spent most of 2026 on the UFC title picture, not on a freestyle mat.
RAF has built its audience by putting MMA names on wrestling cards next to Olympians and NCAA champions. A Covington-Strickland match would fit that model. It would also be a short-notice add to a Las Vegas card that already has title matches and Chimaev vs. Lawler.
Until RAF or Strickland say the same thing Covington just said, the story is a denied turndown and an open challenge. Covington says the weight is no longer the issue. The booking still is.
