Colby Covington Says the Chimaev RAF Title Fight Should Stay in America
Colby Covington is going to Abu Dhabi for Khamzat Chimaev, and he does not like the trip. On Ariel Helwani’s show, the Real American Freestyle cruiserweight champion said a title defense on Chimaev’s home turf is not what he wanted for an American company.
Helwani asked how Covington felt about competing in Abu Dhabi, noting that Chimaev now calls the city home. Covington did not argue the premise.
“Yeah, it’s not my favorite thing in the world,” Covington said. “You know, this is Real American Freestyle. We’re, you know, a company based out of America. I am the American champion, you know, and the first cruiserweight crossover champion of RAF history.”
The match is already on the books. Real American Freestyle announced the cruiserweight crossover title fight for November 14 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, the promotion’s first event in the Middle East. WAM reported that both men enter unbeaten in RAF, and that Chimaev has competed under the UAE flag since 2023.
Covington treated the location as a business problem, not a wrestling one. He called himself the draw of the division and said he is carrying the company.
“You know, I’m putting it on my back. You know, I’m putting everything behind it,” he said. “You know, this guy doesn’t really care about the company. He’s just trying to do cash grabs. I’m trying to actually build in this company.”
He then put a stake on the complaint. “I’m actually invested in this company. So, you know, I’m an equity partner in this company. So I want to see the growth of this company more than any company on planet Earth.”
The billion-dollar line came next. Covington said he wants Real American Freestyle to reach that number, and he named Chad Bronson, Izzy Martinez, and Eric Bischoff as the people he believes can get it there. He closed by asking for the rest of his matches to stay in the United States.
“So I’m all in on Real American Freestyle and, you know, I’m hoping that, you know, my future matches can just stay in America because this is the greatest country on God’s green earth,” he said.
That hope does not cover November 14. Three weeks before the Abu Dhabi date was announced, Covington had already waved the trip off. He told an interviewer he liked America, called an Abu Dhabi date a tilted field, and said he did not think he would do it.
RAF posted the fight anyway. His Helwani answer is the updated position: he is not happy about the city, and he is still the champion walking into it.
The belt he is defending is new. Covington won the inaugural cruiserweight crossover title on July 18 in Milwaukee, beating Arman Tsarukyan 5-2. He made the first defense on September 19 in Miami, blanking Belal Muhammad by a 10-0 technical fall at RAF 13. He is 5-0 in the promotion.
Chimaev is 3-0 in RAF, with wins over Gilbert Burns, Tyron Woodley, and Dillon Danis. The MMA context is less tidy. He lost the UFC middleweight title to Sean Strickland by split decision at UFC 328 in May, and a November wrestling date points away from a quick Octagon return.
The two have never shared a mat or a cage. RAF is the first ruleset that has both of them signed to the same night.
The card around them is not a one-off. Abu Dhabi is the start of a five-year partnership between RAF, the Department of Culture and Tourism, and the UAE Wrestling Federation, after international shows in Tbilisi and Moscow.
Covington’s objection is that the headline of that expansion is his belt, in a building Chimaev can treat as home.
He did not say he was pulling out. He said the venue is not his favorite, called Chimaev a cash grab, and asked that the matches after this one stay in America. Etihad Arena is still the address on November 14. The champion who wanted the fight kept at home is the one who has to cross the water to keep the title.
