Dillon Danis out of Colby Covington match; Raul Rosas Jr. steps in from the crowd

Dillon Danis is out of Tuesday's submission-only match with Colby Covington in Rome, a Hype Fighting organizer said at a press conference on Sunday. UFC bantamweight Raul Rosas Jr. was in the audience and took the match himself, MMA Mania and MMA Sucka reported.

"Unfortunately, Dillon Danis could not come," the organizer, who isn't named in the reports we read, said. No other reason was given. The organizer then opened the spot to the room: "If there's someone who wants to wrestle with Colby, we can organize it."

Rosas answered, "I'll do it, f–k it. Chiwiwis," and came down for a face-off with Covington. As of Sunday night, we'd found no written Hype announcement, no comment from Danis and no word on whether the new match is signed.

Danis's third withdrawal

MMA Mania counts this as Danis's third withdrawal from a signed bout in under a year. In December 2025 he was removed from a Misfits MMA title defense against Anthony Taylor, not medically cleared after the UFC 322 brawl. No such reason has been given for Rome.

In August he left an MMA fight with Mike Perry two days before Duel Arena 1, for undisclosed reasons. He then posted video of a gash being stitched, captioned "sh*t happens in the fight game. Beyond disappointed."

Rome was meant to be a rematch. Covington beat Danis 14-4 at Real American Freestyle's RAF 7 in Tampa on March 28, and Hype announced the submission-only sequel on Oct. 14. Danis is 0-3 in RAF, his latest loss a 10-0 technical fall to Arman Tsarukyan on Friday, Oct. 23.

Covington has missed a Hype date of his own. He didn't appear for a submission-only match in Quito on Oct. 4, and Athlon reported a hospital visit the day before. El Universo put it down to medical problems and said organizers gave no specific cause.

Rosas against Covington

Rosas is 22, a top-10 UFC bantamweight and 13-1 as a pro, with six straight UFC wins. He closed at −147 (57%) for his last fight, then stopped Raoni Barcelos in the fifth round on Sept. 26. Covington is 38 and told the UFC in May he was retiring, which UFC officials confirmed to CBS Sports. His last MMA fight was a third-round TKO loss to Joaquin Buckley on Dec. 14, 2024, when he closed at +178 (34%).

Going by their usual weight classes, Rosas gives up about 35 pounds, according to MMA Sucka, though the match's weight terms haven't been published. Wikipedia lists Covington's first three RAF matches at limits of 190 to 200 pounds. MMA Sucka also quotes him saying Rosas has "a big set of nuts on him" for taking the match.

We think Covington's grappling base is a bigger problem for Rosas than the size gap. Covington was an NCAA Division I All-American at Oregon State, won a 2013 FILA no-gi world title and is 5-0 in RAF.

Rosas has grappled for Hype before. His submission-only match with Deiveson Figueiredo in Brazil in April ended in a draw because neither man got a tap. In July he won the inaugural ACBJJ All-Stars title in Moscow by choking out Khasan Magomedsharipov, an 11-0 PFL featherweight.

We think no tap is the likeliest result, which would mean a draw if Rome uses the same rules, which aren't confirmed. Rosas has six submission wins in MMA, but Covington's only submission loss was a first-round guillotine against Warlley Alves in December 2015.

The UFC is an open question too. In October 2024 Muhammad Mokaev said the UFC wouldn't let Rosas grapple him, a claim that went unconfirmed. Rosas's 2026 grappling matches went ahead, and a wrestling match later this month is public. We found no UFC comment on Rome.

What's next

Covington and Rosas are due to meet on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at the PalaPellicone in Ostia, Hype's first event in Italy. Covington then defends his RAF Cruiserweight Crossover title against Khamzat Chimaev on Nov. 14 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Rosas has no next UFC fight listed on our page. He's booked to wrestle Clay Guida at RAF 15 on Saturday, Nov. 28, in his RAF debut.