Colby Covington defeats Arman Tsarukyan RAF 11 in Milwaukee on July 18, 2026 to win the inaugural RAF Crossover Championship — winning 5-3 on points as a +550 underdog and handing Tsarukyan his first competitive loss since 2022.
That result alone is remarkable. The backstory makes it more so.
To get this match made, Covington had to formally retire from MMA. The UFC’s exclusivity clause prohibited two contracted UFC fighters from competing against each other in a rival promotion — even in a completely different sport. Covington met with UFC executive Hunter Campbell, announced his retirement, and cleared the restriction. A freestyle wrestling match required a career retirement announcement to exist.
Then he showed up as a +550 underdog against an active UFC top-two lightweight, in a sport where Tsarukyan’s wrestling credentials are elite, and won.
How the Match Went
Covington won 5-3 on the RAFscoring system. The referee announced him as the winner and first-ever RAF Crossover Champion — a belt that debuted at this event.
Covington is now 4-0 in RAF with wins over Luke Rockhold, Dillon Danis, Chris Weidman, and now Arman Tsarukyan. Tsarukyan drops to 5-1 in RAF and suffers his first competitive loss in any sport since 2022. He remains an active UFC fighter and top-two lightweight contender — his UFC career is unaffected by the RAF result.
After the win, Covington called out former UFC champions, according to MMA Junkie — continuing the pattern of using RAF as a platform to stay relevant and vocal in the MMA conversation despite his UFC retirement.
Why This Result Matters Beyond the Win
The Covington win over Tsarukyan is the biggest result in RAF history and it lands with full context from the business story that preceded it.
The UFC’s exclusivity clause blocked this match for months. Both men wanted to compete. The UFC said no — its contracts prohibit fighters from competing against each other in rival promotions, even in wrestling, even under different rules, even in a completely different sport. Covington’s only path was retirement.
He retired. He wrestled. He won the belt as a +550 underdog.
That sequence tells you everything about how the UFC’s exclusivity clause functions in practice — and what fighters are willing to do to compete outside the promotion’s boundaries. Covington gave up his UFC career to wrestle Tsarukyan. He got the result he needed to make that decision look correct.
What Tsarukyan’s Loss Means
Tsarukyan entered RAF 11 as the active UFC’s number-two ranked lightweight, on a run that included recent wins over Mateusz Gamrot and Rafael Fiziev. His RAF record was 5-0. He was a -700 to -800 favorite.
The loss is in wrestling, not MMA, and has no bearing on his UFC ranking or his path to a lightweight title shot. Tsarukyan remains one of the best lightweights in the world. But losing his first competitive match since 2022 — in a sport where his credentials should have given him a significant advantage — to a retired MMA fighter who came in as a massive underdog is a result that will follow him into his next UFC media cycle.
What Covington Does Now
Covington is retired from MMA by his own announcement. He is 4-0 in RAF and holds the inaugural Crossover Championship. He called out former UFC champions after the win — suggesting he sees RAF as a platform for marquee wrestling matches against MMA names rather than a one-time venture.
Whether he ever returns to MMA depends on whether the UFC offers him terms that make unretiring worthwhile. His win over Tsarukyan — the UFC’s number-two lightweight — gives him a negotiating chip that his pre-retirement UFC record did not. He is 3-3 in his last six UFC fights. He is 4-0 in RAF with the most significant win in the promotion’s history.
Those are two very different records. He now has both.
The Bigger Picture: RAF as a Real Alternative
RAF 11 produced the biggest result in the promotion’s history on the same night as UFC Oklahoma City ran on Paramount+. Two combat sports cards, same evening, different audiences — and the upset result at RAF generated more immediate social media volume than any fight on the UFC card.
The market forming around the UFC’s perimeter is real. Jake Paul’s MVP, PFL, and now RAF are all generating results that MMA fans care about — involving fighters they recognize — on nights the UFC doesn’t own.
Covington’s win doesn’t threaten the UFC’s business. But it adds another data point to the argument that fighters have more options in 2026 than they did in 2020. And the UFC’s own exclusivity clause — the mechanism that tried to prevent this match from happening — is what put the result in the headlines.
For the full backstory on how the UFC contract situation created this match, see our post on RAF 11: The UFC Contract Story Nobody Is Telling and our breakdown of UFC fighter contracts explained.
FAQ
Who won at RAF 11?
Colby Covington defeated Arman Tsarukyan 5-3 on points at RAF 11 in Milwaukee on July 18, 2026 to win the inaugural RAF Crossover Championship. Covington entered as a +550 underdog. The win hands Tsarukyan his first competitive loss since 2022.
Why did Covington have to retire to wrestle Tsarukyan?
Both Covington and Tsarukyan were active UFC fighters when they wanted to compete against each other in RAF. The UFC’s exclusivity clause prohibits contracted fighters from competing against other UFC-contracted athletes in rival promotions — including in a completely different sport like freestyle wrestling. Covington formally retired from MMA after meeting with UFC executive Hunter Campbell, which cleared the restriction and allowed the match to be made.
Does Tsarukyan’s RAF loss affect his UFC career?
No. The RAF result is in freestyle wrestling, not MMA, and has no bearing on UFC rankings or matchmaking. Tsarukyan remains an active UFC fighter and one of the top lightweight contenders in the world. His UFC career is entirely unaffected by the RAF result.
What is the RAF Crossover Championship?
The RAF Crossover Championship is a title created by Real American Freestyle for athletes competing across combat sports disciplines in freestyle wrestling. It debuted at RAF 11 with Covington vs Tsarukyan as the inaugural championship match. Covington is its first champion.
Is Colby Covington retired from MMA?
Yes — by his own announcement. Covington formally retired from MMA to clear the UFC’s exclusivity clause and compete in RAF against Tsarukyan. Whether he eventually returns to MMA depends on whether the UFC offers him terms that make unretiring worthwhile. His win over Tsarukyan gives him a negotiating position his pre-retirement UFC record did not.