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Bo Nickal applauds Colby Covington following RAF 11 win, warns there are 'levels' to freestyle wrestling

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Bo Nickal applauds Colby Covington following RAF 11 win, warns there are 'levels' to freestyle wrestling

Bo Nickal admits Colby Covington put in some solid work in his RAF 11 victory this past Saturday, but he feels a potential match between the two would play out far differently.

Covington looked to continue his momentum in freestyle wrestling against top UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan inside the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Covington earned a 5-3 win over Tsarukyan to improve his RAF record to 4-0. He has now nabbed victories over Tsarukyan, Chris Weidman, Dillon Danis, and Luke Rockhold.

Nickal saw Covington's match against Tsarukyan, and he won't deny that the former interim UFC Welterweight Champion put in the work to earn his victory. While Nickal had praise for the performance, he still believes Covington would be in for a rude awakening if they share the mat.

“Colby actually looked pretty good vs Arman but there's levels. If yall want to see an absolute massacre give me that @RAFWrestlingUSA cross over belt match up next. Easy work.â€

Nickal and Covington have gotten into a war of words in the past. Nickal has claimed that Covington lied about a proposed UFC Freedom 250 fight that never came to fruition. He even said that he had “receipts†to prove that “Chaos†was lying about him turning down a bout.

Covington has retired from pro MMA competition and has been focusing on freestyle wrestling. It appears the only way the two could settle things is under the RAF banner.

Both Nickal and Covington have their next freestyle wrestling matches booked. Nickal will be facing Max McEnelly at RAF 12 on Aug. 22 in Cleveland. Covington is set to compete on that same card against Belal Muhammad. While Nickal and Covington had their aforementioned banter, things have gotten personal between “Chaos†and Muhammad.

If Bo Nickal and Colby Covington collide under the RAF banner, who would you give the edge to? Sound off in the comments below.

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Anything but Fighting: Edmen Shahbazyan answers random questions

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Anything but Fighting: Edmen Shahbazyan answers random questions

LOS ANGELES — UFC middleweight contender Edmen Shahbazyan joins MMA Fighting's Jose Youngs on #AnythingButFighting to talk about his favorite movies, music, foods, concerts, and more.

Shahbazyan (16-6) is looking to get back into the win column against Brunno Ferreira on the preliminary card of UFC 331. “The Golden Boy†previously dropped a unanimous decision win to Brendan Allen, snapping his three-fight win streak in the process. To date, Shahbazyan holds notable wins over Andre Petroski, André Muniz, Jack Hermansson, Brad Tavares, and Jack Marshman.

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Dana White says Ciryl Gane won’t be promoted to undisputed champion: ‘He’s still got to fight’

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Dana White says Ciryl Gane won’t be promoted to undisputed champion: ‘He’s still got to fight’

Ciryl Gane is NOT the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.

On Monday, Tom Aspinall vacated his UFC heavyweight title after reinjuring his eyes in training, forcing him out of action indefinitely. As such, many expected that interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane — the man who caused Aspinall's original eye injuries when he poked him during their heavyweight title fight at UFC 321 — would be elevated to undisputed champion and then defend his belt; but not so fast.

“Does it make him the undisputed champion?†White asked when questioned about Gane. “No. He's still got to fight.â€

White added that he expects Gane's next fight, the bout for the title of undisputed champion, will be announced “very soon.â€

Ostensibly, Aspinall could face the winner of whatever that potential bout is, should he be ready to return to action by then. But White has no timeline on when that might be.

“I don't [know],†White said when asked how long Aspinall's will be out for. “Obviously, whenever he feels healthy again, whenever his eyes are healed, then we're ready for him.â€

Gane won the interim heavyweight title with a TKO win over Alex Pereira at UFC White House this summer. It was expected that Gane and Aspinall would unify their titles in a rematch this year, before Aspinall's setback ended those plans.

As for the rest of the heavyweight division, Aspinall's latest update seems to have left the UFC scrambling, with White not having a clear path forward, but saying the UFC will figure it out.

“We'll see how this whole thing plays out with Aspinall,†White said. “Ciryl will fight, and we'll see who becomes the champion. This isn't like this is the first time this has ever happened, and it's happening right now with Valentina Shevchenko, too. This is nothing new. This happens sometimes, and it's unfortunate. Not the best outcome, but it is what it is.â€

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UFC 331 start time, fight card for Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja 2

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UFC 331 start time, fight card for Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja 2

There is a massive UFC title rematch to headline UFC 331 on Saturday night.

UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van makes his second title defense in another showdown with former UFC champion Alexandre Pantoja. In their first encounter, Pantoja injured his elbow in the opening round at UFC 323, leading to a knockout loss to Van and losing his UFC title.

Van and Pantoja are expected to make their walk to the UFC 331 cage around 11:30 p.m ET.

Arman Tsarukyan also has a massive fight at UFC 331 when he faces talented lightweight Mauricio Ruffy in a five-round affair with a possible UFC title shot on the line. Tsarukyan last fought in the UFC at UFC Qatar this past November when he submitted Dan Hooker in the second round via arm-triangle choke.

Check out the UFC 331 fight card below.

UFC 331 Main Card (Paramount+ at 9 p.m. ET)

Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja 2

Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy

Patricio Pitbull vs. Doo Ho Choi

Gable Steveson vs. Sean Sharaf

Alonzo Menifield vs. Iwo Baraniewski

UFC 331 Prelims (Paramount+ at 7 p.m. ET)

Marlon Vera vs. Charles Jourdain

Tai Tuivasa vs. Robelis Despaigne

Michael Aswell vs. Joo Sang Yoo

Ryan Gandra vs. Ozzy Diaz

UFC 331 Early Prelims (Paramount+ at 5:30 p.m. ET)

Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Brunno Ferreira

Casey O'Neill vs. Eduarda Moura

Giga Chikadze vs. Joanderson Brito

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