Belal Muhammad Explains Kick at Colby Covington, Calls Him a Coward for Pulling RAF 12 Fight
Belal Muhammad has broken down the heated post-fight press conference moment at RAF 11 where he kicked toward Colby Covington and addressed the sudden cancellation of their planned title bout at RAF 12.
The incident unfolded after Covington defeated Arman Tsarukyan by a 5-3 decision in freestyle wrestling on July 18 to claim the Real American Freestyle cruiserweight crossover title. Words escalated on the dais, leading Muhammad to leave his seat and throw a kick that security stopped short of landing.
Muhammad said the outburst stemmed from accumulated frustration with Covington’s trash talk. “Just get tired of like the, the guy who just like, all he does is talk, and then he gets to the point of, to where you’re like, if he says something reckless, then I’m gonna have to get, I’m just gonna see red, I’m just gonna just like, go up to him, clock him, and at that point where this isn’t fighting, right? This is just wrestling.”
He pointed to Covington’s history of personal attacks. “But the, the guy is a, a lowlife, right? Like when he’s, he said stuff about Leon’s dad, he said, stuff about Kamara’s dad, right? So you’re, I’m like, you know, if he said something about my family and it comes about me, I don’t care if anybody says anything about me, but you come at my family, you say something like that? Then I’m gonna have to freaking hurt you.”
Muhammad stressed the distinction between the octagon and the wrestling mat. “And it’s not r- it’s not fighting, so it’s wrestling. So we’re not gonna be able to do it on the mat, so I’m gonna have to do it when I see him, at the press conference.”
The pair had been booked for a cruiserweight title clash at RAF 12 on August 22 in Cleveland. Covington later announced he used his position as a shareholder to cancel the matchup, citing Muhammad’s lack of professionalism after the kick.
Muhammad framed the decision as another example of avoidance. “You see the coward now going out in interviews and saying that, he, he’s not gonna wrestle me. So, you never know what’s gonna happen. I told you, I’ve been saying that from the- From years that he’s been running from me, been trying to, to duck me forever, so now this is all he got, right?”
He dismissed Covington’s path to the RAF belt. “Like, he went to the UFC, he couldn’t become the, the undisputed champion, so now he went to REF, he went against a lightweight, ran the whole time during the match, like Armand was the only one shooting, shooting, going offensively on him, and now he thinks he’s the king of the realm ‘cause he got the belt, ‘cause he beat a, a jujitsu guy, then he beat a, a kickboxer, then he beat Armand, who’s the only one that wasn’t active in shooting on him.”
Muhammad closed with a blunt assessment of Covington’s motivation. “So he’s gonna try to hold onto that belt as long as possible, and- If he loses to me, he got nothing left, right? He’s just a nobody, who exactly what he’s freaking born to be, a nobody.”
The exchange keeps the long-running personal friction between the two welterweights alive outside the UFC. Muhammad, ranked among the top welterweights at 24-6 following a June decision loss to Gabriel Bonfim, continues to call for the matchup. Covington has made clear the RAF 12 date is off, leaving the wrestling promotion’s next title defense open while both men return focus to their respective paths.
