Real American FreestyleColby Covington
Crossover Champion · RAF · UFC
Overview
Colby Covington is the only man to beat Arman Tsarukyan in Real American Freestyle, and he did it for a belt. He took the inaugural Cruiserweight Crossover Championship 5-3 at RAF 11 in Milwaukee, in a match he had spent months talking his way into.
The wrestling behind the persona is real. He was a 2011 NCAA Division I All American at Oregon State, placing fifth at 174 pounds, and before that went 34-0 as a junior college national champion at Iowa Central. Oregon State's own record books list him as the third All American of the Jim Zalesky era.
He is 4-0 in RAF with wins over Luke Rockhold, Dillon Danis, Chris Weidman and Tsarukyan, and the margins tell a story: he shut Rockhold out 12-0 on debut, then beat Weidman and Tsarukyan by a combined 10-7.
He retired from MMA in May 2026 after being left off a card he badly wanted, ending a UFC run that included an interim welterweight title and two losses to Kamaru Usman.
He is an investor in RAF while competing in it. Co-founder Chad Bronstein has said on the record that the investment buys him no matchmaking control, overruling Covington publicly when he wanted a different opponent than Belal Muhammad.
RAF Record
4-0 across 4 completed matches, every one linked to its full card. A tech fall means a ten point lead ended it early, freestyle wrestling’s version of a squash.
| Date | Event | Opponent | Result | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 19, 2026 | RAF 13 Announced | Belal Muhammad | – | Cruiserweight Crossover Championship |
| Jul 18, 2026 | RAF 11 Won the inaugural title | Arman Tsarukyan | W | dec 5-3 |
| May 30, 2026 | RAF 09 | Chris Weidman | W | dec 5-4 |
| Mar 28, 2026 | RAF 07 | Dillon Danis | W | tech fall 14-4 |
| Jan 10, 2026 | RAF 05 RAF debut | Luke Rockhold | W | tech fall 12-0 |
4 matches on record, 1 announced
Selected UFC record
12-5 in the UFC and 17-5 as a professional, including the interim welterweight title in 2018.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Method | Round | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 14, 2024 | Joaquin Buckley | L | TKO, doctor stoppage | R3 4:42 | UFC on ESPN 63 |
| Dec 16, 2023 | Leon Edwards | L | Decision, unanimous | R5 5:00 | UFC 296 |
| Mar 5, 2022 | Jorge Masvidal | W | Decision, unanimous | R5 5:00 | UFC 272 |
| Nov 6, 2021 | Kamaru Usman | L | Decision, unanimous | R5 5:00 | UFC 268 |
| Sep 19, 2020 | Tyron Woodley | W | TKO, rib injury | R5 1:19 | UFC Fight Night 178 |
| Dec 14, 2019 | Kamaru Usman | L | TKO, punches | R5 4:10 | UFC 245 |
| Aug 3, 2019 | Robbie Lawler | W | Decision, unanimous | R5 5:00 | UFC on ESPN 5 |
| Jun 9, 2018 | Rafael dos Anjos | W | Decision, unanimous | R5 5:00 | UFC 225, interim title |
8 bouts listed
Background
His college record is the part people skip. He was a two time Pac-10 champion at Oregon State and an NCAA Division I All American in 2011, finishing fifth at 174 pounds after beating Christopher Henrich 3-2 in the placing match. Before Corvallis he went 34-0 and won an NJCAA national title at 165 pounds for Iowa Central, and before that took an Oregon state title at Thurston High School with a 118-34 career record. RAF files his division three different ways: his athlete page says catchweight, the champions page says crossover cruiserweight, and the RAF 11 bout itself was contested at cruiserweight, which is what USA Wrestling logged.
Rivalries
Arman Tsarukyan
Covington's objection was conduct, not skill. He pointed at Tsarukyan throwing Urijah Faber off the stage at RAF 08 and said it was not how the wrestling world behaves. He then beat him 5-3 for the belt.
Belal Muhammad
The two nearly came to blows at the RAF 11 post-event press conference. Covington wanted a Kamaru Usman trilogy instead; RAF's founders made the Muhammad match anyway.
Kamaru Usman
Two welterweight title fights, two losses, the first by fifth round TKO and the second on the cards.
FAQ
Did Colby Covington really wrestle in college?
Yes. He was a 2011 NCAA Division I All American at Oregon State, placing fifth at 174 pounds, and a junior college national champion at Iowa Central with a 34-0 season.
What is his RAF record?
4-0, with wins over Luke Rockhold, Dillon Danis, Chris Weidman and Arman Tsarukyan.
Is he still fighting in the UFC?
No. He notified the UFC of his retirement in May 2026.
What is the Crossover Championship?
A family of RAF belts contested by crossover athletes from other combat sports rather than career wrestlers, split by weight class. Covington won the inaugural Cruiserweight Crossover Championship by beating Tsarukyan at RAF 11. Tsarukyan meets Dillon Danis for the inaugural Middleweight Crossover Championship at RAF 14.