MMA

RAF 11 Results: Colby Covington edges Arman Tsarukyan to claim inaugural crossover belt

Published

3 weeks ago

July 18, 2026

RAF 11 Results: Colby Covington edges Arman Tsarukyan to claim inaugural crossover belt

Colby Covington is the inaugural RAF crossover champion.

On Saturday night in Milwaukee, Covington wrestled Arman Tsarukyan for the inaugural title, and the former Division 1 All-American wrestler showed his chops, edging out Tsarukyan in a hard-fought battle.

Tsarukyan came out pandering to the Wisconsin crowd, rocking a cheese head. Covington was definitely the bigger man in the matchup, but Tsarukyan didn't care whatsoever about that, taking the fight right to him. Both men locked up, but neither could gain much advantage in these positions, working snap downs and arm drags. At the end of the first, Tsarukyan changed levels for a single-leg, but Covington hit a waist wrap, taking him over for a takedown, and a 3-0 lead, including a shot clock point from earlier in the round.

Covington's defense remained very stalwart defensively, but in the second round, Tsarukyan got a cleaner single leg and drove through, lifting Covington in the air and getting the takedown when Covington bailed out to avoid the exposure. On the reset, Covington finally shot his own takedown, but Tsarukyan was able to barely keep from giving up points after a fun scramble. But like in the first period, Tsarukyan shot a weak takedown at the end, and Covington sprawled and turned to get two more points.

Heading into the third round, Tsarukyan was down three points, and he wrestled with that sort of urgency, pressing forward and attacking repeatedly. That put Covington in a shot clock violation, but Tsarukyan simply could not break through Covington's defense to score. He continues to try, but Covington sprawled effectively and never gave him a window, eking out a 5-3 win, and handing Tsarukyan his first loss in RAF.

After the match, Covington was highly complimentary of Tsarukyan, saying he's going to be the UFC lightweight champion soon. Then he laid out a list of possible opponents for his new title, including Belal Muhammad and Khamzat Chimaev.

MMA

RAF 13 adds matchup between Luke Rockhold and Joe Pyfer

Published

11 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

12 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

16 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