Former UFC contenders Colby Covington (17-5 UFC record) and Chris Weidman (16-8 UFC record) will face each other in a professional freestyle wrestling match on May 30. The bout will take place at RAF09, a professional wrestling tournament. This represents a departure from MMA competition for both fighters, with Covington known for his wrestling base and Weidman being a former UFC middleweight champion. The match will showcase their grappling skills in a pure wrestling format rather than mixed martial arts.
Colby Covington and Chris Weidman are set to step away from the MMA cage and onto the wrestling mat, with the two former UFC contenders scheduled to meet in a professional freestyle wrestling match on May 30 at RAF09, a professional wrestling tournament.
Covington, 38, carries a 17-5 record across his UFC career and built his reputation almost entirely on a relentless wrestling-based game plan. Standing five-foot-eleven with a 72-inch reach, the MMA Masters product averaged 3.64 takedowns per 15 minutes in MMA competition, one of the clearest demonstrations of a wrestling foundation that has defined his career. Known as "Chaos," he competed primarily at welterweight and twice challenged for the UFC title.
Weidman, nicknamed "The All-American," brings a 16-8 UFC record and genuine wrestling pedigree of his own. The 42-year-old from the Serra-Longo Fight Team stands six-foot-two with a 78-inch reach and averaged 3.27 takedowns per 15 minutes during his MMA career. He is perhaps best known as a former UFC middleweight champion, a title he captured and defended on the strength of a well-rounded game that leaned heavily on his grappling.
Why it matters
- Both fighters carry legitimate collegiate wrestling backgrounds, making this a credible pure grappling contest rather than a novelty exhibition.
- The bout occurs outside the UFC framework, signaling that both men remain competitively active even as their MMA careers have wound down.
- The freestyle format strips away striking, submissions, and MMA-specific rules, placing the outcome entirely in the hands of wrestling technique and athleticism.
- Weidman holds a four-year age advantage in Covington's favor, while Covington's slightly higher MMA takedown rate hints at how the styles may contrast on the mat.
