Colby Covington Dominates Belal Muhammad at RAF 13
Colby Covington didn’t just beat Belal Muhammad at RAF 13. He shut him out, shut him down, and walked out of the Watsco Center with his cruiserweight crossover belt looking barely scuffed.
A 10-0 technical fall in a grudge match that had been simmering for months. All that noise, all that bad blood — and only one man actually turned it into substance on the mat.
Covington crushes the grudge
They’d barked at each other all summer. Muhammad, the former UFC welterweight champion, went after Covington in a heated RAF press conference in July, and neither man had softened a word in the buildup. Years of UFC near-misses and online sniping finally funneled into a single bout under the RAF banner.
When the whistle went, it was Covington’s kind of night.
The reigning cruiserweight crossover champion came out with intent and never let it dip. The signature moment arrived early: Covington snapped Muhammad into a front headlock, locked his position, then whipped him through for a four-point throw. It wasn’t just a score; it was a message. This was his pace, his arena, his rules.
From there, Muhammad could only offer pockets of resistance. He defended in spots, tried to slow the tempo, but Covington kept layering on the pressure. Gut wrenches. A sharp go-behind. Constant forward motion that had the Florida crowd — his adopted home fans — roaring with every turn.
The ending felt almost cruel in its flatness. With Covington already 9-0 ahead, Muhammad went on the 30-second shot clock. He couldn’t find an opening. Time bled away, the extra point kicked in, and the match stopped at 10-0 on a technical fall. No scramble. No last stand. Just a dominant shutout and a rivalry that never really caught fire once the wrestling started.
Covington walked off with his perfect RAF record intact at 5-0, and with it, something even more intriguing: a clear path to Khamzat Chimaev.
Chimaev rolls Burns again
If Covington’s win was ruthless, Chimaev’s was relentless.
Four years after edging Gilbert Burns in a wild MMA fight at UFC 273, Chimaev met him again, this time in a catchweight crossover bout under RAF rules. The result: another one-sided chapter in a rivalry that now spans two sports.
Chimaev, a former UFC middleweight champion and now 3-0 in RAF, had already blitzed Dillon Danis and Tyron Woodley with first-round pins. Burns, making his RAF debut, at least forced him to work longer, but the pattern stayed the same. Chimaev surged ahead, racked up points, and broke open the contest in the second period.
He didn’t need a pin this time. A 15-4 technical fall told its own story — superior pressure, cleaner finishes, and a Brazilian star once again stuck chasing a fight he couldn’t quite catch.
Speaking to RAF commentator Chael Sonnen after the win, Chimaev didn’t dance around what he wants next. He pointed straight at Covington and the cruiserweight crossover title.
“He has the belt and I need to beat the best,” Chimaev said, framing the collision course everyone in Miami had already started to picture.
Covington, the grinding volume wrestler. Chimaev, the marauding finisher who hasn’t met a RAF opponent he couldn’t overwhelm. On a night where both dominated, the inevitability of that matchup felt closer than ever.
Blades, Pyfer and Nolf shine on stacked card
RAF 13 wasn’t just about the two headline acts. The 12-match card in Miami delivered a string of standout performances and a couple of champions pushed right to the edge.
Kennedy Blades once again showed why her name sits at the top of the women’s middleweight division. The champion shut out Diana Avsaragova, cruising to a technical fall to retain her title without ever loosening her grip on the bout.
Joe Pyfer, stepping into RAF for the first time, announced himself with force. Against former UFC champion Luke Rockhold in a light heavyweight crossover contest, Pyfer dominated the hand-fighting, bullied the positions, and ran away with a 14-3 technical fall. It was less a debut and more a statement that he belongs among RAF’s most physical forces.
Jason Nolf, by contrast, had to dig deep. The middleweight champion found himself in a tense, back-and-forth battle with Julian Ramirez. The margins were razor-thin, the scrambles frantic, but Nolf held his nerve to edge a 7-6 decision and keep hold of his belt.
There was drama and volume everywhere you looked on the undercard. Arsen Harutyunyan took the bantamweight title from Austin DeSanto with a sharp 6-3 points win. Timur Bizhoev squeaked past Michael Caliendo 5-4 at welterweight. Chance Marsteller outlasted Georgios Kougioumtsidis 8-6 at cruiserweight.
At featherweight, Cayden Henschel controlled Johnni DiJulius 7-2 to keep his crossover championship. Bryce Meredith and Movlid Khaybulaev traded points in a wild welterweight shootout that finished 17-13 in Meredith’s favor. Jacori Teemer posted a 9-6 win over Haji Aliyev at lightweight, while Mugzy closed the show in a different style, pinning Real Tarzann in their catchweight crossover bout.
But the image that will linger from Miami is simpler: Covington, arms raised after a flawless 10-0 shutout, and Chimaev, fresh off a 15-4 dismantling, calling for his belt.
Two men, one title, and a collision that suddenly feels less like a fantasy and more like RAF’s next inevitable main event.
