Chimaev Fires Back at Covington: "He Knows He's Just Trying to Make His Last Money"

Khamzat Chimaev answered Colby Covington's "quitter" talk on Friday, one week before he challenges Covington for the RAF Cruiserweight Crossover Championship in Abu Dhabi — and in the same interview called himself the real UFC middleweight champion and demanded the winner of Sean Strickland vs. Nassourdine Imavov.

Covington fired first. In an October 30 interview with MMA Junkie, the RAF champion promised to expose Chimaev on the mat: "Sean Strickland made him butt-scooting in six minutes. I'm going to do it in half the time. I'm going to have him on his back, butt-scooting in three minutes." He went further: "It was just weird, so he just shows that quitter, and I'm going to bring the quitter out in him." Covington also dismissed the men Chimaev has beaten under the RAF banner, calling Tyron Woodley and Robbie Lawler "guys on the other side of 40" who were "just coming to collect paychecks," and labelled Chimaev a "weight bully."

Chimaev's answer, given to MMA Junkie on Friday, was short and pointed. "He likes to talk, but he has to wrestle with me," he said. Asked whether he is impressed by Covington's wrestling in RAF, he said: "Not that much, and I'm going to show it very soon. He doesn't have anything against me. I'm a better wrestler. He likes just to talk. He knows he's just trying to make his last money."

The match itself, on Saturday, November 14 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, is a freestyle wrestling bout for Covington's Cruiserweight Crossover Championship, and it streams live on FOX Nation. Covington is 5-0 in RAF: he beat Luke Rockhold, Dillon Danis and Chris Weidman, won the inaugural title against Arman Tsarukyan in July, and defended it with a 10-0 technical fall over Belal Muhammad in September. Chimaev is unbeaten in the promotion too. His four wins — a 44-second pin of Danis, the fastest pin in RAF history, a pin of Woodley in Moscow, a 15-4 technical fall over Gilbert Burns and an 11-0 technical fall over Lawler last month — make him 4-0, even though some coverage still lists him at 3-0. DraftKings opened Chimaev as a -1000 favourite, with Covington a +650 underdog.

Covington comes into Abu Dhabi off a humiliation in a different rule set: on Tuesday in Rome, Raul Rosas Jr. submitted him in 43 seconds in a submission-only grappling match at HYPE FC, a clip that went viral while Usman and Cejudo mocked him on their podcast. Chimaev, for his part, has said he will wrestle anyone who pays: "If they pay good, I will wrestle anybody."

The same interview produced the second half of Chimaev's message, aimed at the UFC. Chimaev won the middleweight title from Dricus du Plessis in August 2025 and lost it to Sean Strickland by split decision at UFC 328 in May — a verdict he has never accepted, and one 13 of 24 media outlets scored for him. Strickland is expected to defend next against Nassourdine Imavov, a fight that has been delayed amid Strickland's discontent with his pay. Chimaev wants the winner, and says the belt is still really his: "It should be the winner because I'm the No. 1 contender, and I didn't lose that match. People say I lost the match, but I'm the real champion."

Beyond next Saturday, Chimaev says he intends to stay on the RAF circuit while his UFC future is sorted out. "Of course I want to be active. If they ask me, I want to compete every week, just be active," he said. "I'm always in good shape, training and focusing at my gym. So I want to stay No. 1 and to show to people that I'm the best. Whoever, I'm just going to take the belt of this weight class and go up and fight the bigger guys." He even named fantasy opponents in Daniel Cormier and Brock Lesnar: "DC was talking, trying to wrestle with me, and we will see. Brock Lesnar, whoever."

First, though, comes the mat in Abu Dhabi. Covington has promised to take Chimaev's undefeated record and "his soul"; Chimaev's reply is that talk ends when the wrestling starts. The co-main event pairs Arman Tsarukyan with Neiman Gracie in a non-title catchweight bout.