Colby Covington Dominates Belal Muhammad at RAF 13

Colby Covington didn’t just beat Belal Muhammad at RAF 13. He shut him out, turned down the volume on weeks of trash talk, and walked out of the Watsco Center with a 10-0 technical fall that felt as ruthless as the scoreline suggests.

All that bad blood, all that history from their UFC days without ever sharing a cage, finally spilled onto a wrestling mat in Miami. Only one of them looked ready for it.

Covington crushes the grudge

From the opening exchanges, Muhammad tried to stay disciplined, working defensive positions and looking to deny Covington the kind of pace that usually drowns opponents. It didn’t matter. The reigning RAF cruiserweight crossover champion simply hunted him down.

The sequence that broke the bout open was pure Covington. He snapped Muhammad into a front headlock, tightened his grip, and whipped him through for a four-point throw that brought the crowd in Florida to its feet. Early in the first period, the tone was set: Covington wasn’t here to edge a decision; he was here to dominate.

He never really let Muhammad breathe after that. Gut wrenches, a sharp go-behind, relentless pressure. Muhammad stayed stubborn, but he stayed stuck.

The ending was as cold as it was anticlimactic. With Covington already 9-0 up, Muhammad went on the 30-second shot clock. He couldn’t score. The extra point for inactivity clicked on, the scoreboard read 10-0, and at 38, Covington had another technical fall and another rival silenced.

The Miami crowd roared. Covington barely had to look back.

Chimaev steamrolls Burns again

If Covington provided the clinic, Khamzat Chimaev brought the chaos.

In the co-main, the former UFC middleweight champion ran through Gilbert Burns for the second time in his career, this time under RAF rules. Four years after their decision at UFC 273, Chimaev didn’t need the judges. He blew the bout open and closed it out with a 15-4 technical fall in the second period.

Chimaev had already shredded Dillon Danis and Tyron Woodley with first-round pins in RAF. Burns, making his RAF debut, at least avoided the pin, but he couldn’t slow the avalanche. Chimaev stalked, scored, and kept piling on until the tech fall was inevitable.

Speaking to RAF commentator Chael Sonnen after the win, Chimaev didn’t bother playing coy. He went straight at the man with the gold.

“He has the belt and I need to beat the best,” he said, eyes already on Covington’s cruiserweight crossover championship.

Covington’s demolition of Muhammad and Chimaev’s mauling of Burns leave RAF with an obvious next move. The tension that never got settled in the UFC may be replaced by a new, sharper question: can Covington’s grind hold up when Chimaev comes charging across the mat?

Blades, Pyfer and Nolf shine on stacked card

RAF 13 wasn’t a two-fight show. The undercard delivered its own statement performances.

Kennedy Blades, one of the brightest talents in women’s wrestling, kept her women’s middleweight title with a shutout tech fall over Diana Avsaragova. No drama, no doubt. Just a champion closing the door early.

Joe Pyfer announced himself in RAF with zero subtlety. The powerful American rag-dolled former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold in a 14-3 technical fall that looked more like a mismatch than a debut. Rockhold had moments, but Pyfer’s physicality and pressure broke the bout wide open.

Jason Nolf had to sweat to keep his middleweight championship. Pushed to the edge by Julian Ramirez, Nolf edged a 7-6 thriller that swung back and forth before the champion found just enough to hang on.

Across the rest of the 12-match card, Arsen Harutyunyan relieved Austin DeSanto of his bantamweight belt with a 6-3 points win, while Timur Bizhoev slipped past Michael Caliendo 5-4 at welterweight. Chance Marsteller claimed an 8-6 points victory over Georgios Kougioumtsidis at cruiserweight, and Bryce Meredith outgunned Movlid Khaybulaev 17-13 in a wild welterweight shootout.

Cayden Henschel took the featherweight crossover championship with a composed 7-2 win over Johnni DiJulius, Jacori Teemer outscored Haji Aliyev 9-6 at lightweight, and Mugzy closed the night with the only pinfall of the main card, flattening Real Tarzann in their catchweight crossover bout.

By the time the lights dimmed in Miami, one storyline towered over the rest. Covington owns the belt. Chimaev wants it. After RAF 13, there’s nowhere left for that collision course to hide.