Colby Covington criticizes Khamzat Chimaev's performance at UFC 328

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NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MAY 09: (L-R) Sean Strickland punches Khamzat Chimaev of Russia in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 328 event at Prudential Center on May 09, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) Colby Covington believes Khamzat Chimaev’s first loss was a revealing one. Chimaev lost his middleweight championship and his undefeated record this past May when he dropped a split decision to Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 328. Strickland was a considerable underdog heading into the contest, but after a slow start, Strickland went on to outlast Chimaev in what was primarily a striking battle and became a two-time UFC champion. Much has been made of Chimaev’s poor performance in the aftermath of the fight, especially about how Chimaev was negatively affected by a difficult weight cut, and Covington agrees that something was off; however, he thinks Chimaev’s downfall had more to do with his character and mind set than any health issues. “It was a weird fight,” Covington told Submission Radio. “He started making all those excuses for the weight cut. It’s like, bro, you already went up a weight class. It’s not the weight cut, it’s a discipline cut. It’s a mental type of cut. You’re cut from a different cloth. You could see he kind of has that quitter in him. “Like, what was he doing, pulling guard in the second round? I could never imagine just accepting guard and pulling guard. That’s where girls are supposed to be, girls are supposed to be on the bottom and the guys come on top and missionary, it was just weird to see him pulling guard so easily. So I don’t know, I think he’s mentally weak and that’s why I’ve always been excited to compete against him because people that I compete against that aren’t mentally strong there, I’m going to expose them every time.” Covington and Chimaev could be in close proximity this week, with Chimaev headlining RAF 10 this Saturday in St. Louis, opposite Dillon Danis, and Covington scheduled to be in attendance. With Covington and Chimaev both currently under the RAF banner, a future wrestling match is a possibility, one that Covington hopes comes to fruition. “I see a lot of weaknesses,” Covington said. “I see a clear path to victory and a game plan and strategy that can be implemented. So, I’m the perfect person to implement it and I think I can definitely break him. Three two-minute rounds in a wrestling match, I’m coming out and giving you the kitchen sink and some. I don’t know, he might make it through around two minutes through Round 1, but Round 2 and 3 is when I come on strongest, so I do see that I can expose him there.” Currently out of the UFC, Covington is set to face Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 11 on July 18. Tsarukyan also competes this Saturday at RAF 10 and as a training partner of Chimaev’s, there’s a good chance Covington and Tsarukyan’s teams run into each other. Covington looks forward to a confrontation and the chance to give Chimaev a piece of his mind. “It will probably be a hostile type of situation and environment, but luckily Real American Freestyle employs some of the best security guards on planet Earth,” Covington said. “So I’m not worried. We’ll settle our business with ‘C*mshot’ on the Real American Freestyle mat.” “Absolutely, I’m going to let him know,” he continued. “You couldn’t even handle Sean Strickland and he’s gassing out in these matchups with some of these guys. It’s going to be 10 times worse for him on the Real American Freestyle mat with me, with raw American steel and twisted sex appeal. So I’m going to let him know straight to his face that he comes and crosses the cardio king and he’s going to get broken in six minutes.”

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Colby Covington was shocked to see Khamzat Chimaev on his back at UFC 328.