The talk is over.
No. 2-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight Arman Tsarukyan is set to collide with three-time Welterweight title challenger Colby Covington in the main event of Real American Freestyle (RAF) 11, which goes down Sat., July 18, 2026, inside UWM Panther Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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The match was announced shortly after Covington scored a win over former UFC champion Chris Weidman in the co-main event of RAF 09 last night.
Tsarukyan improved to 5-0 in RAF last night when he smoked Mugzy, winning via technical fall in the very first round. He already has another match booked before Covington, as he takes on Tony Ferguson on June 13.
The Armenian hot-head is still trying to get back into UFC’s good graces and earn another title shot, but until then, he’s staying busy on the wrestling mat with RAF.
As for Covington, he recently announced his retirement from MMA because he wants to get back to his first love: freestyle wrestling. However, he has also hinted that if he were still on the UFC roster, he wouldn’t be able to compete against fellow active UFC fighters, which ultimately led to his retirement.
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Covington is currently 3-0 in RAF with wins over Luke Rockhold, Dillon Danis, and now Weidman.
But before Covington and Tsarukyan finally collide, RAF travels to St. Louis, where Khamzat Chimaev and Danis will headline RAF 10.
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