Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev’s clash under the Real American Freestyle banner is almost set in stone after the pair delivered impressive victories in the promotion’s spectacle in Miami last week. But before they finally meet on the mat, ‘Chaos’ pointed out a glaring loophole in his bitter rival’s game that he looks forward to exploiting. 

Speaking to Full Mount MMA, Covington said Kamaru Usman would be a much tougher opponent than Khamzat Chimaev, claiming the Chechen lacks proper wrestling and cardio.

“Probably Usman,” the 38-year-old said. “I think Chimaev…he doesn’t have cardio, you know. He got taken down by Gilbert Burns over the weekend, a jiu-jitsu specialist. That guy doesn’t even know how to wrestle. So that was hilarious, you know, that he got taken down. 

Covington pointed to Chimaev’s latest outing in the RAF 13 co-main event against Gilbert Burns to argue that he won’t be overwhelmed by ‘Borz’s wrestling. Despite the Chechen dominating almost the entirety of the match, the Brazilian still managed to score two takedowns.  

Just like ‘Chaos,’ many labeled Chimaev’s performance underwhelming, implying that Burns, who’s primarily a submission specialist, shouldn’t have taken him down once, let alone twice. In fact, by the second period, Chimaev’s pressure grappling had left him visibly fatigued. We have already witnessed the Chechen struggle with his cardio against Sean Strickland at UFC 328, where he lost the middleweight belt. Still, ‘Borz’ managed to win the clash against Burns via a 15-4 technical fall.

Meanwhile, Covington decimated Belal Muhammad in the main event with a 10-0 technical fall victory. In doing so, he showed no signs of slowing down. Because of this, Covington is confident about beating Chimaev in a freestyle wrestling showdown. Besides that, Covington also leaned on a bit of MMA math to back up his case for beating Chimaev. 

“Belal Muhammad smoked Gilbert, you know,” Covington added. “He took him down with ease. And look what I did to Belal. That guy couldn’t even score a point on me. He couldn’t even touch my legs. So, you know, I think Usman would be a tougher match. He’s more of a traditional wrestler.”  

Muhammad and Burns never fought in the RAF, but the pair did meet at the UFC 288 co-main event, where ‘Remember the Name’ beat him in a lopsided unanimous decision. But that fight happened three years ago, and Muhammad is currently far removed from his prime. At present, the Palestinian-American is riding a three-fight losing streak in the UFC.  That factor suggests Covington hasn’t faced Muhammad at his absolute best.

Still, it’s no surprise the former welterweight title challenger wants a shot at the Chechen. In fact, Chimaev let slip that the two are already scheduled to clash in Abu Dhabi this November, which he revealed at the RAF 13 pre-fight press conference. 

‘Chaos,’ however, has a condition attached to the matchup. 

Colby Covington’s reveals condition to wrestle Khamzat Chimaev 

Though Covington has downplayed every possible grappling threat Chimaev could present, there’s one aspect ‘Chaos’ isn’t sure about. The former interim 170-pound champion points out that his future opponent holds a big advantage in size, and he doesn’t want that to play in Chimaev’s favor. 

“Chimaev would just be a bigger guy,” Covington added in the same interview. “He’s a heavier guy. He’s got a lot more weight on me. So with Chimaev, we would just have to do it at a weight that makes sense, you know. I’m not going to give him a 30-pound weight advantage over me.

“We’ve got to have a fair playing field. And I know I’ll break him. I will break him on that mat if we wrestle. He doesn’t have the cardio and the drive that I have. And I’m the best crossover wrestler on the planet right now. No one’s going to stop me in RAF.”  

Covington rightly points toward Chimaev’s size advantage over him. In RAF, ‘Borz’ mostly competes in the cruiserweight division, weighing around 195-200 pounds for his matchups. Covington, on the flip side, is the promotion’s crossover champion and primarily fights at 185 pounds, the middleweight division.

It’s wild that both men once fought in the UFC’s welterweight division at some point. However, if the bout happens at cruiserweight, the former middleweight champion could maul Covington using his size advantage. So it’s a smart move for the ex-UFC welterweight to push for a middleweight bout, the very weight class Chimaev fights in the UFC.  

Now, it remains to be seen whether Colby Covington’s confidence and strategy finally emerge victorious against Khamzat Chimaev, or whether he faces a generational humbling.