Arman Tsarukyan and Colby Covington engaged in a staredown and agreed to face each other in an upcoming wrestling match. The confrontation appears to have taken place at a RAF wrestling event or related promotion. Both fighters have wrestling backgrounds, with Tsarukyan competing recently in RAF and Covington being a former Division I wrestler. The agreement sets up an interesting crossover bout between two high-level UFC welterweights in a pure wrestling format. No specific date or event was announced for when this match will take place.
Arman Tsarukyan and Colby Covington came face to face at a RAF wrestling event, sharing a staredown that ended with both men agreeing to compete against each other in a pure wrestling match. No date or specific event has been announced for the bout, but the two fighters have publicly committed to the crossover contest.
Tsarukyan, 29, is currently ranked first in the UFC lightweight division and carries a 23-3 record. The Russian product of American Top Team has been active on the wrestling circuit through RAF competition and brings a well-rounded grappling game to the cage, averaging 3.26 takedowns per 15 minutes in MMA. Standing five-foot-seven with a 72-inch reach, he is a compact and technically sharp fighter who strikes at 50 percent accuracy.
Covington, 38, trains out of MMA Masters and holds a 17-5 MMA record. The American earned All-American honors as a Division I collegiate wrestler before becoming one of the most relentless pressure fighters in the UFC welterweight division. He averages 3.64 takedowns per 15 minutes and throws significant strikes at a high volume of 3.81 per minute, making his wrestling-to-striking combination a hallmark of his UFC career.
Why it matters
- Both fighters possess elite-level wrestling credentials, making this a genuinely competitive pure grappling matchup rather than a novelty crossover
- Tsarukyan competes at lightweight while Covington is a welterweight, meaning the two would not typically meet inside the UFC octagon, adding to the appeal of a neutral format
- The agreement raises Tsarukyan's profile further as he pursues activity outside his primary division, and gives Covington a high-visibility platform amid his MMA career's later stage
