Colby Covington claims his grudge match with Belal Muhammad at RAF 12 is off, saying he has decided to move away from the previously announced bout on Aug. 22 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
The matchup was booked after RAF 11, where Covington defeated Arman Tsarukyan at UWM Panther Arena in Milwaukee to win the promotion's cruiserweight crossover championship, and Muhammad defeated Ben Askren on the same card. Tensions spiked that night when Muhammad threw a kick at Covington during the post-fight news conference before security intervened.
"My next title match, the champ does what he wants," Covington said, adding: "He calls the shots. So I've made an executive decision. I went and talked to the brass. I'm a shareholder at RAF, so I make these kind of decisions. We're going to move away from the Belal matchup. He showed that he can't be a professional. Nope, it's not happening. I made the executive decision: We're going to move away from that matchup."
Covington pointed to Muhammad's conduct at the RAF 11 presser as part of his reasoning, and said, "Let me tell you the reasons why: First off, he's on the mic at the post-fight press conference, he's claiming to be a man of the people. 'I care about the kids. I want to be a good example. I'm sorry I cussed.' And then the next second, he stands up and throws a soccer kick at me and runs across the stage and tries to attack me like a freaking filthy animal?"
Looking ahead, Covington said "Arman deserves the rematch," and mentioned Michael Chandler, Tyron Woodley, Khamzat Chimaev, and Kamaru Usman as other potential opponents.
