Belal Muhammad, Colby Covington nearly brawl at RAF 11 press conference

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Belal Muhammad clearly hasn’t read the rules about throwing kicks in wrestling. On Saturday, Muhammad competed at RAF 11 in Milwaukee, defeating Ben Askren via points in Askren’s retirement wrestling match. After the match, Muhammad called for a bout with Colby Covington, who would go on to defeat Arman Tsarukyan for the inaugural RAF crossover championship. And at the post-event press conference, Muhammad and Covington nearly came to blows. Muhammad and Covington have beefed for years, dating back to their time in the UFC, though the two never fought. But once they were on the same podium for the press conference, things quickly spiraled. “He went against a lightweight!” Muhammad said about Covington. “Tell him to go against a welterweight, somebody his size! Cleveland’s right around the corner! Let’s go!” “Bro, you barely beat the dead guy!” Covington responded. “This guy can only score on dead guy and gargoyles. That’s it. You’re a bum, bro. Keep talking, you’re a nobody. You got teched by a nobody.” After this exchange, RAF announced that Covington and Muhammad will face off in the co-main event of RAF 12 in Cleveland next month, prompting both men to up their trash talk. “It will be the easiest match I get in RAF,” Covington said. “I can’t believe they’re going to give me a free win like that. Super exciting for me. Easy money. No one’s beating me for this belt.” “Let’s see if he shows up in August,” Muhammad replied. Their bickering continued, with each man talking over the other until things finally escalated to the point that Covington threatened to smack Muhammad, prompting Muhammad to stand up and charge at Covington. RAF officials got in the way before Muhammad could get to him, leaving the former UFC welterweight champion with few options but to throw a weak kick at Covington, which fell short. Nevertheless, Covington then charged at Muhammad, resulting in a total mess as team members and security all jumped into a pile. Eventually, cooler heads prevailed, and both fighters were escorted out. Check out the whole sordid scene below, or the full press conference video above. Belal Muhammad just went after Colby Covington at the RAF 11 press conference! (🎥: @mikeHeck_JR) pic.twitter.com/DgfsAdgq6D — MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) July 19, 2026