> Colby Covington Upsets Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 11, Snapping His Undefeated Freestyle Wrestling Run

UFC welterweight Colby Covington beat UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan 5-3 in an actual freestyle wrestling match on July 18, 2026 — not a fight, a wrestling match, scored in periods, on the mat. It happened at RAF 11 in front of a crowd at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, under the banner of Real American Freestyle (RAF), the crossover promotion that puts UFC and college wrestling names on the same wrestling-only card.

How Covington Won

Covington built the lead early, scoring three points in the first period off a takedown counter and a shot-clock violation against Tsarukyan. Tsarukyan clawed back two points on a lift in the second period, but Covington answered with two more late in the same period to go up 5-2, then rode the lead through the third to close it out 5-3.

The win made Covington the first-ever RAF cruiserweight crossover champion and snapped Tsarukyan’s undefeated run in the promotion — he’d gone 7-0 across RAF’s first ten events, effectively serving as the promotion’s biggest UFC-name draw. Covington had to be released from his UFC contract to compete, since the UFC doesn’t allow its fighters to compete in rival combat-sports promotions.

The Bigger Story on the Card: Ben Askren

The co-main event carried the night’s most significant story. Belal Muhammad beat Ben Askren 6-3, and Askren announced his retirement immediately afterward. Askren, an Olympic wrestler and former Bellator/ONE welterweight champion, underwent a lung transplant in 2025 after a severe illness — this bout was his comeback, and by every account it was treated as a farewell rather than a real title bid.

Why This Card Matters

RAF’s entire premise is putting active UFC fighters on wrestling-only cards against each other and against decorated amateur/college wrestlers — Frankie Edgar, Clay Guida, Keegan O’Toole, Olympic gold medalist Adeline Gray, and NCAA champion Trent Hidlay all competed on this same card. For a site built around the overlap between MMA and wrestling audiences, RAF is exactly the kind of content gap worth tracking going forward — it’s real, scored, competitive wrestling involving names MMA fans already know.

Related Intel

• Dricus du Plessis Dominates Kamaru Usman’s Middleweight Debut at UFC Oklahoma City — the same July 18 weekend’s UFC main card.
• Colby Covington’s Perfect RAF Run — how Covington built to this title shot with three straight wins beforehand.