Arman Tsarukyan and Colby Covington held a staredown and verbally agreed to meet in a wrestling match. The face-off appears to have taken place at a recent wrestling event, with both fighters committing to the bout. No official date or event details were provided for when this wrestling match might occur. The agreement represents an unusual crossover opportunity between two active UFC welterweights competing in a pure wrestling format. Both fighters have strong wrestling backgrounds, making this a compelling stylistic matchup outside of MMA competition.
Reports emerged around April 19 that Arman Tsarukyan and Colby Covington locked eyes at a recent wrestling event and verbally agreed to square off in a pure wrestling match. No official date, venue, or promotional details have been confirmed, and the agreement should be treated as unverified at this stage.
Tsarukyan, 29, enters any grappling conversation with serious credentials. The Russian lightweight holds a 23-3-0 record and sits at number one in the UFC lightweight rankings as a member of American Top Team. Standing five-foot-seven with a 72-inch reach, he averages 3.26 takedowns per 15 minutes in MMA competition, underlining the wrestling foundation beneath his striking game, which runs at a 50 percent accuracy rate.
Covington, nicknamed "Chaos," is a 38-year-old American fighting out of MMA Masters with a 17-5-0 record. The five-foot-eleven welterweight built his entire MMA identity around wrestling, averaging 3.64 takedowns per 15 minutes across his career. His pressure-heavy, volume-based approach — 3.81 significant strikes landed per minute — has long been driven by his ability to control opponents with his grappling.
Why it matters
- A confirmed wrestling match between the two would be a rare crossover event pitting two of MMA's more credentialed grapplers against each other outside the cage.
- Tsarukyan competes at lightweight while Covington is a welterweight, so any wrestling bout would sidestep UFC contractual weight-class considerations.
- The stylistic matchup is genuinely competitive on paper, with both fighters posting nearly identical takedown averages in MMA.
- Until an official announcement is made, the bout remains a verbal agreement only and could easily fall through.
