Colby Covington explains why RAF 12 matchup with Belal Muhammad is off

Colby Covington has pulled the plug on his scheduled RAF 12 matchup with Belal Muhammad, citing Muhammad's unprofessionalism following an ugly confrontation at the RAF 11 press conference. The bout was set for August 22, just 24 hours after being announced.

Covington won the inaugural RAF crossover championship with a victory over Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 11. The two title-holder prospects clashed verbally at the post-event press conference, and tensions escalated when Muhammad threw a kick at Covington before security intervened. Speaking to Submission Radio, Covington characterized Muhammad's conduct as unacceptable, saying the former UFC welterweight champion "stands up and throws a soccer kick at me and runs across the stage to try to attack me like a f*cking filthy animal."

"Chaos" expressed confidence he would dominate Muhammad on the wrestling mats, but dismissed the prospect of fighting him due to his unprofessional behavior and expectation of further rule violations. "We're gonna move away from the Belal matchup," Covington stated. "He showed that he can't be a professional… Of course, the company knows I beat him in 60 seconds or less in a wrestling match. He's not gonna be able to wrestle me. He's gonna try to fight me; he's gonna be unprofessional. So, we're gonna move on."

Covington is now open to defending his title against a rematch with Tsarukyan or exploring other challengers including Michael Chandler, Tyron Woodley, Khamzat Chimaev, and Kamaru Usman.