Colby Covington needed every last second to get past Chris Weidman at RAF 9 but he still delivered on a win after a back-and-forth match.
Giving up size to the former UFC middleweight champion, Covington had to show off his speed and technical skills to score takedowns and eventually earn a late point for passivity to end up with a 5-4 lead as time expired. As soon as the match was over, Covington wasted no time calling out Arman Tsarukyan, who scored a win of his own in the opening match of the night.
“Arman, you’re a spoiled little brat,” Covington shouted. “Gas up your daddy’s jet and bring that little jezebel Nina Drama and I’ll see you in Milwaukee on July 18!.”
Tsarukyan, who was sitting nearby watching the match, took to the stage with his response, while agreeing to the match on July 18 at RAF 11.
“Colby, today you looked so bad,” Tsarukyan said. “When we’re going to wrestle, be ready because I don’t want to have easy money.”
Before setting up his next match, Covington first had to deal with Weidman, who was a two-time All-American during his collegiate wrestling career.
Weidman scored with a quick throw to get Covington down early but he couldn’t quite get a turn to rack up more points. A lot of hand fighting ensued on the standup with the referee eventually issuing a shot clock warning on Covington for lack of activity.
That led to a single-leg attempt from Covington and a scramble led to points for the former interim UFC welterweight champion.
Covington snatched another single-leg takedown as he put Weidman on the mat again for another two points. It appeared Weidman was slowing down and his offensive output was almost non-existent as the second period was ticking away.
Weidman attempted a front-headlock snap down but came up short and that led to the referee putting him on the shot clock. Because Weidman didn’t score, Covington earned another point to go up 5-4.
With 30 seconds remaining, Weidman made two late attempts for a takedown but Covington sprawled away as time ran out to secure the victory.
Considering how much size Covington was giving up, it was still an impressive feat to beat Weidman and remain undefeated with a 3-0 record in RAF. Now Covington is ready for a showdown against Tsarukyan, which could end up as the biggest match in RAF history.
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