Tsarukyan and Covington set for RAF 11 main event after Dallas call-outs

Arman Tsarukyan and Colby Covington will headline RAF 11 on July 18 at Milwaukee’s UWM Panther Arena, RAF officials confirmed after both men called each other out following their respective wins at RAF 9 in Dallas on Saturday.

Covington’s path to the matchup was cleared by his recent retirement from the UFC, which had reportedly been reluctant to allow active fighters to face one another inside RAF. With that obstacle removed, the former welterweight title contender is now free to pursue the grappling showdown he had been targeting.

Covington enters the bout at 3-0 in RAF after edging former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman 5-4 in a tightly contested match on Saturday between two NCAA All-Americans. A fifth-place finisher at the NCAA Championships during his time at Oregon State, Covington carries the most decorated wrestling pedigree Tsarukyan has faced in the promotion.

Tsarukyan, meanwhile, improved to 5-0 in RAF with a tech fall victory over Mugzy at RAF 9. The Armenian-Russian lightweight is already booked for another appearance before the Covington clash — he is scheduled to face former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson at RAF 10.

Additional bouts for the RAF 11 card are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.