MMA

Colby Covington, Belal Muhammad separated after heated RAF clash

Published

3 weeks ago

July 20, 2026

Colby Covington, Belal Muhammad separated after heated RAF clash

Colby
Covington and Belal
Muhammad’s long-running feud finally boiled over at RAF 11.

Former
Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Muhammad defeated
Ben
Askren on points in the latter’s retirement wrestling match
before calling out Covington. Later that evening, “Chaos” defeated
Arman
Tsarukyan to capture the inaugural RAF crossover
championship.

They had to be separated after the wrestling promotion's Saturday
event in Milwaukee after a heated exchange at the post-fight press
conference escalated into a physical confrontation.

Former UFC stars Colby Covington and Belal Muhammad clash at
RAF 11

Following their wins at RAF 11, both Covington and Muhammad
attended the presser, where the former UFC welterweight titleholder
attempted to diminish the headliner's victory over Tsarukyan.

â€œHe went against a lightweight!â€ Muhammad said of Covington. â€œTell
him to go against a welterweight, somebody his size! Cleveland’s
right around the corner! Let’s go!â€

â€œBro, you barely beat the dead guy!â€ Covington quickly fired back.
â€œThis guy can only score on dead guys and gargoyles. That’s it.
You’re a bum, bro.â€

RAF officials then announced that Covington and Muhammad will meet
in the co-main event of RAF 12 in Cleveland next month, adding
another chapter to their heated rivalry.

â€œIt will be the easiest match I get in RAF,â€ Covington said. â€œI
can’t believe they’re going to give me a free win like that. Easy
money. No one’s beating me for this belt.â€

â€œLet’s see if he shows up in August,â€ Muhammad replied.

The exchange continued to intensify as Covington threatened to slap
Muhammad, prompting the latter to leap from his seat and charge
toward his rival. Security and event officials intervened before
the two could make contact, though Muhammad threw a kick in
Covington’s direction as the pair were separated. Covington then
attempted to close the distance, sparking a brief scuffle before
both men were escorted from the stage.

Convington recently exited the UFC roster, while Muhammad is on a
three-fight skid.

ðŸ˜²Belal
Muhammad threw a kick at Colby
Covington during a heated altercation at the RAF press
conference, forcing officials to separate the two.

(Via Putt6) pic.twitter.com/hkX1ZW92l6

â€” Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA)
July 19, 2026

MMA

RAF 13 adds matchup between Luke Rockhold and Joe Pyfer

Published

13 hours ago

August 9, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

RAF 13 adds matchup between Luke Rockhold and Joe Pyfer

Luke Rockhold returns to the Real American Freestyle mats next month.

On Sunday, RAF announced that Rockhold will face current top-15 middleweight Joe Pyfer in a catchweight bout at RAF 13 on Sep. 19 at Watsco Center in Miami.

A former UFC middleweight champion, Rockhold made his RAF debut at RAF 5 in January, where he lost by tech fall to Colby Covington. Rockhold does not have a significant wrestling background, though he did wrestle in high school and at community college before transitioning to grappling and MMA. Rockhold retired from MMA in 2022 and has spent the past several years trying his hand in various other combat sports.

Currently ranked No. 9 in MMA Fighting's Global middleweight rankings, Pyfer has a similar wrestling background to Rockhold, having mostly participated in the sport in high school, though he also has some experience in professional grappling events. Most recently, Pyfer knocked out former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC Seattle in March. This will be Pyfer's first match in RAF.

RAF 13 is supposed to be headlined by a cruiserweight crossover championship grudge match between Colby Covington and Belal Muhammad.

MMA

Tommy McMillen battles fellow undefeated prospect at Noche UFC

Published

14 hours ago

August 9, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Tommy McMillen battles fellow undefeated prospect at Noche UFC

Tommy McMillen is getting his wish, but is now set for his toughest test to date.

McMillen, the longtime teammate and protÃ©gÃ© of former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley, faces Marwan Rahiki at the promotion's annual Noche UFC card on Sept. 12 in Glendale, Ariz. UFC's broadcast partner Paramount+ announced the bout on social media.

The 28-year-old McMillen called for a spot on the card in his home state following a record-setting performance in stopping Alberto Montes at UFC Oklahoma City in July. After earning a contract on the Contender Series this past September, â€œGunâ€ had a successful debut with a first-round finish of Manolo Zecchini at April's UFC Vegas 115 card.

Rahiki has entered fans' radars with a very aggressive finishing style inside the octagon. The 24-year-old has a pair of stoppage wins over Harry Hardwick and Ollie Schmid to kick off his octagon career.

Noche UFC is headlined by Jean Silva vs. Yair Rodriguez in a featherweight showdown.

MMA

Quillan Salkilld details potential injury following submission finish over Mateusz Gamrot: "I actually felt it"

Published

17 hours ago

August 9, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Quillan Salkilld details potential injury following submission finish over Mateusz Gamrot: "I actually felt it"

Zuffa LLC

Quillan Salkilld delivered an emphatic first-round finish at UFC Vegas 120, but he may not have walked away unscathed.

Salkilld met his biggest name to date in Mateusz Gamrot this past Saturday. The Contender Series alum delivered by securing a first-round submission finish via rear-naked choke. The 26-year-old is on a fast track towards top five competition, as Gamrot was the No. 6-ranked lightweight on the Meta rankings panel entering the bout.

While Salkilld has raised his stock significantly, he'll be hoping to avoid time on the shelf amid a possible injury. Salkilld appeared on the UFC Vegas 120 post-show on Paramount+, and he recalled the moment he might've been injured (via MMAFighting).

â€œThere was a wrestling exchange at the start where he grabbed my ankle,â€ Salkilld said. â€œIf it was training, I would have kind of gone with it to not hurt the knee. He had my ankle and it turned to like 90 degrees. Because I was being stubborn in that position, I didn't want to accept any bad position. I turned into it and forced it. Usually I didn't want to do that because I'm always scared about hurting my knee in training.

â€œThis one, I just went into it and heard a little pop. Even when I had that rear-naked choke, I actually felt it. I was like f*ck, if I don't get this, my knee's going to be sore later. In round two or three, it would have been [sore]. It's a bit sore now.â€

Salkilld has been perfect ever since suffering a submission loss in his first pro MMA bout in early 2021. In addition to his 13-fight winning streak, Salkilld has finished his last four fights in the opening round. That includes a nasty head kick knockout over Nasrat Haqparast.

If Quillan Salkilld can avoid being sidelined, who should he fight next? Drop your opinion in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM