Colby Covington is finally ready to put the Khamzat Chimaev beef to bed, but there’s a catch. ‘Chaos’ isn’t about to let Chimaev enter with a significant size advantage and call it a fair fight. Instead, the former UFC welterweight title contender sees the Real American Freestyle matchup as a no-brainer, as long as ‘Borz’ plays by his rules.

“Yeah, definitely. It’s the matchup the fans want,” Covington told MMA Junkie when asked about facing Khamzat Chimaev. “I’ve always wanted this matchup for a long time. We were supposed to cross paths at one point in the UFC, but he was unprofessional.

“He couldn’t make the weight, and he went up a weight class, so that fight never transpired. It makes a lot of sense for RAF, but I’m not going to accommodate his weight. I’m not going to his bogus demands. He’s going to have to come to a fair weight class for me.”

The two former UFC welterweights were scheduled to face off inside the Octagon, but the fight never happened after Khamzat Chimaev moved up to middleweight. With both men testing their skills in freestyle wrestling, the potential fight has found a new home.

‘Borz’ first threw his name into the mix after watching RAF 6 in Arizona, where Colby Covington called out potential opponents, including Arman Tsarukyan, Kamaru Usman, and Georges St-Pierre. However, it was the undefeated wrestler-turned-MMA star who responded by offering to face ‘Chaos’ at the next RAF event in Tampa.

“Next RAF I will make American boy humble again,” Khamzat Chimaev wrote on X. “Colbiclown let’s go.”

While the bout did not happen, Khamzat Chimaev has since gone 1-0 in RAF and quickly become one of the promotion’s biggest attractions. Colby Covington, meanwhile, has been even more dominant, with a perfect 4-0 record since joining the promotion. His wins include former UFC champions Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman, as well as Dillon Danis and Arman Tsarukyan.

That resume has also changed Covington’s negotiating position. While ‘Chaos’ has previously competed at 200 pounds in the RAF, he doesn’t believe he should accept a bigger weight disadvantage against Khamzat Chimaev.

“Like 185, I think that’s a fair weight class, you know, what he fights in the UFC. Just come down,” Covington said in the interview. “He used to fight 170, so it shouldn’t be too hard making the weight, but we got to talk to his team to see if they can make it.

“I know they want a big weight; they want to do like in the 200s. I don’t weigh above 190s, so why would I go to the 200s? I’m not going to give up 30 pounds to a guy; it doesn’t make sense.”

There is still plenty of incentive for ‘Chaos’ to make the matchup happen. He has often portrayed himself as a fighter eager to provide fans with the biggest fights possible, and he believes Khamzat Chimaev is exactly that type of opponent.

And while Colby Covington has previously competed at 200 pounds in RAF, defeating both Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman at that weight, as the RAF title holder, he believes his previous willingness to move up does not mean he has to do it again.

“But I want the biggest and best matchups. I’m the people’s champ,” he added. “I want to give the people what they want. The people want it, and the interest is there, then, of course, I’m going to come out and do that matchup. It doesn’t matter if it’s David versus Goliath. It can be whatever it needs to be. But if the people want this, the people will get it.

“I beat them. I’m the champ. Now I’m the champ, though. I call the shots. Why would I accommodate someone else? They need to come to me. But we’re going to make it work.”

It is also worth noting that even before the RAF possibility emerged, Colby Covington had made it clear that he was confident in his chances against ‘Borz.’

Colby Covington predicts how a fight with Khamzat Chimaev will play out

Even before Khamzat Chimaev called for the fight in May, Colby Covington was confident that he would get to face ‘Borz’ under the RAF banner. And not just that, the former UFC title challenger believes his collegiate wrestling background would prevent the former middleweight champion from controlling him on the mat for long.

“We were supposed to fight at welterweight in the past,” Covington told Submission Radio earlier this year. “They were talking about making that fight happen. So I love that fight. I think it’s a great fight for me. He’s not going to take me down, hold me down. (I’d get) right up.

“Collegiate wrestling teaches you fight the hands, look for underhooks, get right back to your feet. So he’s not going to be holding me (down) like he did his last fight with Dricus. It’ll be a completely different fight. And then it’s a striking fight, and I think he’s scared to strike. I don’t think he likes to strike people. He doesn’t like to get hit in the face. So, you know, I love that fight.”

For now, though, the potential Covington-Chimaev clash will have to wait. ‘Borz’ is already set to make two RAF appearances this month, starting with a match against Tyron Woodley at RAF Moscow this weekend.

However, we may get to see a face-off between him and Covington as Chimaev returns just two weeks later to fight Gilbert Burns at RAF 13 in Miami. And that very event will be headlined by ‘Chaos,’ as he defends his cruiserweight title against Belal Muhammad on September 18.

As for Khamzat Chimaev’s MMA career, that’s still up in the air ever since he suffered the first loss of his MMA career against Sean Strickland at UFC 328 and lost his middleweight title by split decision.

‘Borz’ has been looking for a rematch against the middleweight champion but has also recently revealed three names he may go one-on-one with.

Chimaev’s UFC future is also uncertain after he lost his debut MMA fight to Sean Strickland at UFC 328 and lost his middleweight belt via split decision. With ‘Borz’ looking to get himself a UFC bout and Colby Covington defending his RAF title, it seems like before these two can actually settle their long-running beef, they’ll have to get their schedules and that whole weight-class issue sorted out first.