Khamzat Chimaev defeated Chris Weidman 10-0 in a freestyle wrestling match at RAF Abu Dhabi, with the bout ending early on points. It was Chimaev's fifth appearance in RAF and his fifth victory, all of them coming early. Weidman stepped in on five days' notice, replacing Colby Covington.
Khamzat Chimaev won a freestyle wrestling match against Chris Weidman 10-0 at RAF Abu Dhabi, with the bout stopped early on points. Weidman took the fight on five days' notice, stepping in for Colby Covington.
The result was Chimaev's fifth appearance under the RAF banner and his fifth win. Every one of them has ended early.
Chimaev, 32, is the UFC's top-ranked middleweight and holds the number ten spot in the pound-for-pound rankings. His professional record stands at 15-1. His most recent recorded fight was a split-decision loss to Sean Strickland in a title bout at UFC 328 on May 9, 2026. Before that, he beat Dricus Du Plessis by unanimous decision at UFC 319 in August 2025, and he submitted Robert Whittaker in the first round at UFC 308 in October 2024. Wrestling is the core of his game: he averages 5.29 takedowns per 15 minutes, with 1.8 submission attempts over the same span.
Weidman, 42, is a former UFC middleweight standout from the Serra-Longo Fight Team and carries a 16-8 record. His most recent recorded fight was a second-round knockout loss to Eryk Anders at UFC 310 on December 7, 2024. That followed a unanimous decision win over Bruno Silva in March 2024. He lands 3.11 significant strikes per minute at 45 percent accuracy and averages 3.27 takedowns per 15 minutes.
Covington, the original opponent, is 38 and 17-5. His most recent recorded fight was a doctor's-stoppage TKO loss to Joaquin Buckley in December 2024.
Why it matters
- Chimaev stayed active in a grappling-rules setting following his UFC title-fight loss in May.
- Weidman's short-notice call-up meant a fighter four years Covington's senior, and ten years older than Chimaev, took on the UFC's top-ranked middleweight on his own terms.
- The 10-0 score and early stoppage extend Chimaev's perfect RAF run to five wins from five, none of which went the distance.
The two men had comparable raw takedown credentials in MMA, with Chimaev averaging roughly two more per 15 minutes than Weidman. The wrestling-only format removed striking from the equation and put Chimaev's pace and control front and center, which is how the match played out.
