Colby Covington and Belal Muhammad brawl after RAF 11, booked for title fight at RAF 12

Colby Covington and Belal Muhammad got into a brawl after their respective wins at the star-studded RAF 11 event. 

The RAF (Real American Freestyle) wrestling stars have been at loggerheads for many years, relentlessly feuding during their time as MMA fighters in the UFC.

On one hand, Covington retired from MMA earlier this year to focus on wrestling in the RAF. On the other hand, Muhammad still competes in the UFC, whilst also trying his hand at wrestling in the RAF. 

Colby Covington vs. Belal Muhammad title fight announced for RAF 12; MMA stars brawl after RAF 11

The RAF 11 headlining match in Milwaukee, a few hours ago, saw Colby Covington hand UFC lightweight star Arman Tsarukyan his first RAF loss. Covington outpointed Tsarukyan by a margin of 5-3 to capture the inaugural RAF cruiserweight crossover championship. 

Additionally, Belal Muhammad, in the event's co-headlining match, outpointed Olympic wrestler and former UFC welterweight Ben Askren. The latter had come back for his final wrestling match after severe health problems he faced last year. Muhammad beat him on points by a 6-3 margin. 

During the press conference that ensued, RAF CEO Chad Bronstein, COO and matchmaker Izzy Martinez, and chief media officer Eric Bischoff fielded questions from the media.

The RAF personnel announced that Colby Covington will defend the RAF cruiserweight crossover championship against Belal Muhammad in the co-headliner of RAF 12 in Cleveland on August 22. That event would be headlined by Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs and UFC welterweight Sean Brady. 

Well, Colby Covington and Belal Muhammad traded jibes on more than one occasion over the course of their RAF 11 post-event press conference segment. 

Covington was notably asked about his UFC rival, former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who suffered a unanimous decision defeat against former UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis in the headlining match of UFC Oklahoma City that went down the same day as RAF 11. 

He responded by reiterating that he'd like to wrestle Usman under the RAF banner. He's clashed against Usman twice in professional combat sports contests -- MMA bouts in the UFC -- losing to the Nigerian-born American fighter by TKO in 2019 and unanimous decision in 2021. 

In response to Muhammad interrupting him by bringing up the aforementioned losses, Covington sounded off on him by stating, "Shut the f**k up before I smack the sh** out of you, b**ch!" 

Regardless, Muhammad refused to stop, continuing his verbal barrage against "Chaos." Covington fired back by saying, "You're going to get smacked up so hard, bro."

Akin to how he berated Muhammad and the latter's wife/partner over their physical appearance at the RAF 11 pre-event press conference, Covington once again labeled his partner a gargoyle, saying: 

"You might be the ugliest b**ch, bro. Look at that f**king nose, bro. That guy is f**king ugly. No wonder he's with a gargoyle. Shut the f**k up. The real man is talking." 

Covington proceeded to reaffirm that he'd like his combat sports trilogy fight against Usman to come to be in the RAF. Meanwhile, Muhammad got up from his seat and advanced toward the California-born fighter, who initially seemed unaware that things would escalate as such. 

Muhammad managed to get close enough, despite the presence of RAF brass onstage, to land a front kick to Covington's torso. The two longtime MMA rivals were swiftly separated before Covington could retaliate with his strikes. 

However, both Muhammad and Covington continued attempting to reach one another and trade blows. Pandemonium marked the end of their segments at the press conference. 

UFC veteran Colby Covington invoked a sense of deja vu among fight fans with "champ" closing barb against Belal Muhammad

After the brawl was contained, Colby Covington seemingly utilized a phrase that combat sports legend Conor McGregor famously did back in 2016. Some fans deemed it as a moment of deja vu, so to speak. 

McGregor after winning the UFC lightweight title and becoming a UFC double champ, had said, "The double champ does what the f**k he wants." 

Similarly, Covington, after his RAF 11 post-match press conference brawl with Muhammad, went to a microphone on the table onstage and said, "The champ does what the f**k the champ wants." 

Incidentally, earlier during the press conference, the RAF brass happened to address the mammoth RAF 10 brawl between Khamzat Chimaev and Dillon Danis from last month, indicating that security had been increased to prevent such incidents. 

Watch the altercation between Colby Covington and Belal Muhammad below (*comments at around the 11, 13, 14-minute marks of the video):