Colby Covington Dominates Belal Muhammad via Technical Fall at RAF 13

Real American Freestyle returned for its thirteenth event on Friday, September 18, 2026, streaming live from inside the Watsco Center in Miami, Florida (also noted in Coral Gables, Fla.), bringing a high-profile card of mixed martial artists and wrestlers. Fight fans are in for a thriller this week, and while the Ultimate Fighting Championship heads to the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles for UFC 331, the mixed martial arts community was already buzzing about a matchup that has eluded the Octagon: Colby Covington vs. Belal Muhammad. The event featured multiple title matches and key names throughout the card, setting the stage for an exciting night of action.

Colby Covington Dominates Belal Muhammad in Main Event

The main event pitted former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington against former undisputed UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad for the RAF cruiserweight crossover championship. There is bad blood attached to this matchup; the two fighters genuinely despise each other, with years of bad blood culminating in a vicious brawl a few weeks ago at RAF 11 after “Chaosmade disparaging comments about Muhammad's partner. Now,Remember The Name” finally had the chance to settle things the old-fashioned way.

With just 48 hours to go before the event taking place at the Watsco Center at the University of Miami, right in Covington’s backyard, Muhammad appeared more than comfortable walking into enemy territory. Speaking to Mike Heck of MMA Fighting ahead of Friday’s main event, Muhammad opened up about what he expects when the two finally meet, stating:

“I’ve been waiting for a long time. It’s not going to be a fight, but wrestling inside the trenches, it is a fight. And when you’ve got a coward on one side, he’s going to wither.”

Belal Muhammad, via MMA Fighting

It’s main event time! Covington had the crowd chanting “U-S-A” at the start of the match. They tied up quickly to get the action going, but Covington’s fingers found Muhammad’s eye, pausing the match. The match resumed after a short pause. Covington then got on the board first with a nice 4-point toss on the edge of the mat. Two more points were scored by Covington, taking his lead to 6-0 to close out the first period.

Muhammad was put on the 30-second clock in the second period after a series of hand fighting. Covington ended up scoring two points with a takedown. Covington was awarded another point, and then Muhammad was placed down in the center of the mat with two seconds on the shot clock. Once those two seconds were up, it was 10-0, and Covington won by tech fall at Round 2, 0:37. Covington (4-0) has yet to lose on the RAF wrestling mats.

Khamzat Chimaev Defeats Gilbert Burns in Co-Main Event Rematch

It’s co-main event time. Gilbert Burns and Khamzat Chimaev met again, but this time on the RAF mats in a catchweight crossover. Former UFC champion Khamzat Chimaev previously defeated Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision at UFC 273 on April 9, 2022. One point was awarded to Chimaev for running Burns out of bounds, and Chimaev ultimately defeated Burns via tech fall with a score of 15-4.

Championship Bouts and Feature Match Results

The card featured a pair of championship matches and several other key bouts across mixed martial arts and wrestling. Kennedy Blades faced Diana Avsaragova for the women’s middleweight title (150 lbs.), with Blades defeating Avsaragova via tech fall. Austin DeSanto met Arsen Harutyunyan for the bantamweight championship (135 lbs.), where Arsen Harutyunyan defeated Austin DeSanto 6-3.

Elsewhere on the card, Michael Caliendo faced Timur Bizhoev at welterweight, with Timur Bizhoev defeating Michael Caliendo 5-4. Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold took on UFC middleweight contender Joe Pyfer in a light heavyweight crossover match for Pyfer’s promotional debut, and Joe Pyfer defeated Luke Rockhold via tech fall (14-3). Jason Nolf and Julian Ramirez met for the middleweight title, with Jason Nolf defeating Julian Ramirez 7-6. Georgios Kougioumtsidis faced Chance Marsteller at cruiserweight, with Chance Marsteller defeating Georgios Kougioumtsidis 8-6. Movlid Khaybulaev faced Bryce Meredith, with Bryce Meredith defeating Movlid Khaybulaev 17-13. Johnni DiJulius faced Cayden Henschel for the featherweight crossover championship, where Cayden Henschel defeated Johnni DiJulius 7-2. Haji Aliyev faced Jacori Teemer, with Jacori Teemer defeating Haji Aliyev 9-6. Additionally, Mugzy defeated Real Tarzann via pinfall.

Card Adjustments and Broadcast Details

RAF confirmed the full RAF 13 lineup after announcing that Wyatt Hendrickson and Greg Kerkvliet’s matchup had been postponed due to an injury. RAF 13 kicked off at 8 p.m. ET, streaming exclusively live on FOX Nation from inside the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla.