Colby Covington Says He Would Break Khamzat Chimaev Wrestling
Colby Covington is not backing down from a wrestling match with Khamzat Chimaev.
The Real American Freestyle crossover champion told Submission Radio he would break the former UFC middleweight titleholder on pace, not power.
“How do you think a wrestling match between you and Hamzat would look?” the host asked.
- “I think I would break him, you know,” Covington said. “I just don’t think he has the cardio to keep up with me, you know.”
He pointed straight at Chimaev’s last UFC title fight.
“We’ve seen him gas in fights, you know, pull and guard against Sean Strickland, that was pretty pathetic,” Covington said.
Strickland took the middleweight belt from Chimaev by split decision at UFC 328 on May 9. It was Chimaev’s first professional loss and dropped him to 15-1.
Covington did not stop at the Octagon tape.
“He’s retired to the common cold, you know, in the past, so he has those quitter tendencies, so I will bring that quitter out in him if that’s the next matchup, but, you know, we gotta see.”
That line is Covington’s read of Chimaev’s long list of illness withdrawals, including the COVID-era pullouts that stalled his early UFC run. It is an opinion, not a medical file.
The wrestling talk is real even if the bout is not booked.
Chimaev finished Gilbert Burns by 15-4 technical fall in the RAF 13 co-main event last Friday in Miami and immediately asked for Covington. Covington answered Belal Muhammad with a 10-0 technical fall in the main event and kept the RAF cruiserweight crossover title.
Covington is 5-0 in the promotion. Chimaev is 3-0.
The hang-up is weight. Covington has already said he will not climb to 200 pounds to accommodate Chimaev. He wants 185. Burns weighed 198.8 for the rematch with Chimaev. Covington made 185 against Muhammad.
Chimaev has not publicly agreed to come down.
Covington also ranked a Kamaru Usman trilogy ahead of Chimaev when asked to pick after RAF 13. Usman remains on the list. Chimaev remains on the list.
None of that is a signed contract.
Covington retired from MMA and has treated RAF as his new home. Chimaev is still chasing a UFC return and has said he wants a fight by December or he will take time to deal with hand injuries.
A wrestling match would not settle the UFC title picture. It would settle a years-old social-media feud on a mat instead of in a cage.
Covington’s pitch is simple. He thinks Chimaev fades. He thinks the Strickland fight proved it. He thinks he can force the same fade in a wrestling match if the weight is his.
Chimaev has to decide whether he wants that test at 185 or whether the callout stays at catchweight. Until RAF puts both names on a poster, Covington’s prediction is just talk from the driver’s seat.