Raul Rosas Jr. submitted Colby Covington with a rear naked choke just 43 seconds into their 10-minute submission-only grappling match at Hype Fighting in Italy on Tuesday. Rosas took the match on late notice after Dillon Danis withdrew, scoring an early takedown, taking the back and locking up the choke despite giving up a significant size advantage. Covington said he came out slow and that it was his first jiu-jitsu competition in years, adding that he is now preparing for a showdown with Khamzat Chimaev at RAF in Abu Dhabi in two weeks. Rosas said afterward that he intends to become the youngest UFC champion.
Raul Rosas Jr. needed less than a minute to submit Colby Covington in a grappling match on Tuesday, finishing a rear naked choke 43 seconds into a scheduled 10-minute, submission-only contest at Hype Fighting in Italy, as first reported by MMA Fighting.
Rosas took the match on late notice after Dillon Danis withdrew. He scored an early takedown, took the back and locked up the choke, despite giving up a significant size advantage.
Rosas, 22, is a ranked bantamweight, sitting 10th in the division with a 13-1 record. He arrives off a fifth-round KO/TKO win over Raoni Barcelos on September 26, his most recent recorded fight, which followed a unanimous decision over Rob Font in March. His wrestling numbers back up the quick takedown: he averages 5.02 takedowns per 15 minutes. Standing 5-foot-9 with a 67-inch reach, he trains out of 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu in Las Vegas. After the win, he said he intends to become the youngest UFC champion.
Covington, 38, holds a 17-5 record and is a former interim UFC welterweight champion. His most recent recorded fight was a third-round doctor's stoppage loss to Joaquin Buckley in December 2024, preceded by a unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards in a title bout in December 2023. Known as a wrestler, he lands 3.64 takedowns per 15 minutes but attempts just 0.2 submissions per 15 minutes. Covington said he came out slow and that it was his first jiu-jitsu competition in years.
Why it matters
- The result is a notable moment for Rosas, a bantamweight, submitting a significantly larger opponent in under a minute.
- Covington says he is now preparing for a showdown with Khamzat Chimaev at RAF in Abu Dhabi in two weeks.
- Chimaev, 32, is a ranked middleweight (No. 1) and 10th in the pound-for-pound list. He averages 5.29 takedowns per 15 minutes, higher than Covington's 3.64.
Chimaev's most recent recorded fight was a split decision loss to Sean Strickland in a title fight in May 2026. Covington's loss on the mat to Rosas, by contrast, came in a format that rewards only submissions, not the wrestling-heavy control he is known for in MMA.
