Covington out injured; Chimaev now faces Chris Weidman at RAF Abu Dhabi

Colby Covington has pulled out of his wrestling match with Khamzat Chimaev at RAF Abu Dhabi on Saturday, November 14, because of an injury. Real American Freestyle announced the change on Monday on X, naming former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman as his replacement.

RAF did not say what the injury is or how long Covington will be out. We have found no statement from Covington himself. The swap comes five days before the show.

The title on the line changes too. Chimaev was going to challenge Covington for his RAF cruiserweight crossover belt. Against Weidman, he will wrestle for the RAF light heavyweight crossover championship, according to RAF and Sherdog. The rules are freestyle wrestling, not MMA, as MMA Sucka points out.

The date, venue and broadcast stay the same. The show is at Etihad Arena and starts at 11 a.m. ET, according to SB Nation. It airs on Fox Nation in the US and Starzplay in the Middle East and North Africa.

Chimaev got in before RAF's X post. About 90 minutes earlier, he wrote on X:

Colbi is not coming, he is scared

The jab continues a long feud. In 2023 Covington mocked Chimaev for missing weight for UFC 279. Chimaev replied that he had accepted a Covington fight four times, Sherdog reported at the time. The UFC never made it.

Covington's year

Covington had won five straight in RAF, according to Sherdog. He won RAF's first crossover title by beating Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 11 in July, as AgentMMA reported at the time. In September he defended it with a 10-0 technical fall over Belal Muhammad, per MMA Sucka. He retired from MMA in May, and the UFC took him off its roster around May 18, Cageside Press reported.

On Tuesday, November 3, Raul Rosas Jr. submitted him with a rear-naked choke 43 seconds into a grappling match in Italy. Rosas, a UFC bantamweight, had replaced Dillon Danis on short notice at the Hype Fighting show, according to AgentMMA. Afterwards, Covington said he was preparing for Chimaev in Abu Dhabi, the same report says. We found no report tying the injury to that match, and Middle Easy says no verified medical detail connects them.

In an interview Arab News published on November 3, the day of the Rosas match, Covington said how much facing Chimaev meant to him:

I want this win more than I've wanted any win in my whole entire career.

Chimaev vs Weidman

Chimaev, 32, is unbeaten in RAF, with four wins since June over Danis, Tyron Woodley, Gilbert Burns and Robbie Lawler, SB Nation notes. The latest was an 11-0 technical fall over Lawler in Las Vegas on October 23. He has competed under the UAE flag since 2023, so Abu Dhabi is a home crowd. In the UFC he is 9-1, and his one loss came as a -500 favourite, when Sean Strickland took his middleweight title in May.

Weidman, 42, has not fought in MMA since a second-round TKO loss to Eryk Anders in December 2024, ending his UFC run at 12-8. Wrestling is his base: he was a two-time NCAA Division I All-American at Hofstra. His only RAF match was a 5-4 loss to Covington at RAF 09 on May 30. Weidman scored first with a throw, but Covington won the deciding point late.

We don't carry odds for RAF matches. Even so, we think Chimaev should win clearly. His latest win was an 11-0 shutout, while Weidman, ten years older, lost a close one to the man Chimaev was supposed to face. That early throw against Covington is the best case for Weidman: he needs points before Chimaev's pace takes over.

What's next

Tsarukyan against Neiman Gracie, at a catchweight, is the co-main event of the 13-match card. RAF has not said what happens to Covington's cruiserweight crossover title or when he might return.

ALF League announced Chimaev against Jorge Masvidal in a submission-only grappling match in Dubai on December 4, per MMA Sucka. The announcement post was later taken down, BoxingNews reported. MMA Sucka, citing Din Thomas, reported that the UFC pulled the match. Nobody has confirmed that officially.