“He’s Lying”: Colby Covington Says Arman Tsarukyan Was Easy Work in Training
Colby Covington has turned up the heat on Arman Tsarukyan and Khamzat Chimaev, laying out a plan to “crush” the lightweight contender on the Real American Freestyle mats and then call out the UFC middleweight champion next.
Colby Covington on Arman Tsarukyan
In a recent interview with Submission Radio after RAF 7, Covington detailed his interest in a wrestling match with Tsarukyan, who has become one of the UFC’s key figures at 155 pounds while also staying active in RAF. Covington said he wants Tsarukyan in RAF first, then Chimaev, promising that he would “crush his boy right in front of him” before turning to the Chechen star on the mats. He added that if Chimaev chooses to wrestle him, “he knows how high level I am,” framing the whole push as a way to prove his skills in a rule set that favors pure grappling.
Covington has leaned heavily on his history with Tsarukyan at American Top Team to sell the matchup. Speaking with Submission Radio, he claimed the Armenian used to be his “light rounds” at ATT, saying that when hard rounds were done he would bring in Tsarukyan and “beat him up” as a young training partner.
In the Submission Radio follow-up, Covington went further, insisting “100% we grappled,” that he was “levels above him,” took Tsarukyan down “many times,” and that Tsarukyan never scored a takedown on him. He accused Tsarukyan of “acting a little arrogant” and “not being real and truthful” about how those sessions actually went.
Tsarukyan has become a central figure in RAF as well as the UFC, with recent wins in the wrestling league over Lance Palmer and Georgio Poullas and a booked rematch with Poullas after a heated post-fight scene earlier in the year.
Covington, meanwhile, is coming off RAF wins including a debut victory over Luke Rockhold and a decision over Dillon Danis at RAF 7, which he has used to argue that he is “undefeated in RAF” and a key name for the promotion’s future cards. The American has also claimed that the UFC and chief business officer Hunter Campbell blocked an earlier attempt to secure a Tsarukyan wrestling matchup in RAF, arguing that UFC contracts are stopping him from facing active roster contenders on the freestyle circuit.
Colby Covington’s latest talking points come on the back of a successful outing at RAF 7, where he earned a decision win over Dillon Danis in their freestyle wrestling main event. In that match, Covington pushed a steady pace and controlled large portions of the grappling exchanges, using pressure, mat returns, and top control to edge Danis on the scorecards.
The result gave him another high‑profile win on the RAF stage and strengthened his argument that he is still a serious threat in pure wrestling against elite names. With Danis dealt with in RAF, Covington has been even more vocal about wanting Tsarukyan next on the mats and then dragging Khamzat Chimaev into the same setting to settle their feud in front of a live crowd.
Colby Covington Wants Khamzat Chimaev
Chimaev sits as the next target in this public campaign. Covington has said RAF officials have discussed a potential wrestling clash with the middleweight champion after Chimaev’s next title defense and has accused him of scamming supporters with a controversial memecoin project, claiming he raised millions before pulling the plug.
Covington framed a future RAF showdown with Chimaev as a kind of payback, saying fans “want me to get revenge” and that “the RAF mats” would be the perfect setting for it. Whether the UFC signs off on any of these wrestling grudge matches is still unclear, but Covington’s message is simple: dominate Tsarukyan in front of Chimaev, then drag “Borz” into the freestyle spotlight next.
