Colby Covington takes multiple jibes at UFC star Khamzat Chimaev before RAF Abu Dhabi title match

Colby Covington has taken aim at his next Real American Freestyle (RAF) wrestling opponent, Khamzat Chimaev.

"Chaos" unleashed a fiery verbal offensive against Chimaev, highlighting his MMA loss, criticizing his wrestling skills, jibing at his relationship with Ramzan Kadyrov, and more. 

Colby Covington wasn't surprised by Khamzat Chimaev's first MMA defeat against Sean Strickland

Colby Covington last competed in the sport of MMA back in December of 2024 when he was dealt a cut-induced TKO defeat against Joaquin Buckley. Covington announced his MMA retirement earlier this year but has maintained that he's willing to compete in the sport for the UFC organization again, provided the right offer comes his way. 

Moreover, the 38-year-old has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the freestyle wrestling realm under the RAF wrestling promotional banner this year. He's accrued a 5-0 record in the RAF, last defending his RAF cruiserweight crossover championship by beating archrival Belal Muhammad via tech fall last month. 

During a recent conversation with Ariel Helwani on The Ariel Helwani Show, Covington spoke about his imminent RAF showdown against former UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev.

An ex-interim UFC welterweight champion himself, he signaled that he was facing Chimaev despite the latter possessing a weight advantage over him. Apparently, their RAF encounter will be contested at 185 pounds. He also spoke about Chimaev's first MMA defeat, which came in his latest Octagon appearance, a split decision loss against Sean Strickland in their UFC middleweight title fight in May. 

Upon being questioned about whether he was surprised to see Chimaev lose to Strickland, Covington stated: 

"No, I wasn't. We've seen that quitter mentality in him in the past, you know. When you're fighting Gilbert (Burns) -- he doesn't really have that dog... When the fight gets tough... He's not the hammer anymore, and he becomes the nail -- you know, things get tough, and when adversity is fighting, he's not a good adversity fighter. It was so expected." 

Covington suggested that he knew Strickland would pose problems for Chimaev with his defensive wrestling prowess, in the striking department, as well as by tiring "Borz" out.

The American criticized Chimaev's act of pulling guard at one point in the fight, seemingly emphasizing that no true wrestling specialist would pull guard and willingly get on their back even in an MMA matchup. 

Colby Covington labels Khamzat Chimaev a "quitter," questions bond with Ramzan Kadyrov, before RAF Abu Dhabi

Colby Covington further reaffirmed that Khamzat Chimaev tends to quit when the going gets tough. He alluded to how most wrestlers are taught the tenets of never giving up and of refusing to accept disadvantageous positions in a match. 

Expounding upon the same, he opined that his Chechen counterpart lacks that type of mindset. The California-born combatant even jibed at Chimaev over his oft-discussed bond with Chechen politician Ramzan Kadyrov. He said: 

"Khamzat doesn't have that type of mentality. He's a quitter. He's had everything handed to him. He's hanging out with that weirdo f**king guy, Kadyrov, from over there; that sick, warlord. That guy is an evil person, killed a lot of people, allegedly. So he (Khamzat Chimaev) is just not a good person. I can't wait to expose him to the world." 

Presently, Covington is booked to defend his RAF cruiserweight crossover belt against three-time Swedish national wrestling champion Chimaev. The American wrestling savant and the UAE-based Chechen grappling extraordinaire will headline RAF Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on November 14. 

Watch Colby Covington sound off against Khamzat Chimaev below (*comments at the 16:37-minute mark of the video):