Colby Covington may have edged out Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 11, but the former UFC interim welterweight champion left the match believing he had shared the mat with a future UFC titleholder.
The two wrestlers met in a highly anticipated RAF championship bout, where Covington overcame two takedown attempts and did enough to earn the victory. Instead of celebrating his own performance alone, Covington also praised Tsarukyan’s talent after the match.
Covington predicts UFC gold for Tsarukyan
Speaking with Submission Radio, Covington revealed the message he delivered to Tsarukyan after their match. He believes the Armenian contender has everything needed to dominate the UFC lightweight division.
“Unbelievable match. I told him, you’re gonna be the UFC Lightweight champ,”
“I’m so convinced. No one’s gonna beat him at Lightweight, that’s a perfect division. Justin Gaethje has no chance.”
Covington, who is known for his trash talk before fights, took a different approach with Tsarukyan. Their build-up lacked the personal attacks that have become a trademark of “Chaos,” even though he remained vocal toward other competitors during the RAF 11 event.
Respect grows after competitive RAF showdown
Covington also spoke about the respect he gained for Tsarukyan after feeling his skill firsthand during the match.
“I was in peak form last night. It didn’t matter who was gonna be in there, I was going to get my hand raised because I wanted it so bad …”
He continued by explaining why the experience changed his perspective.
“…but I felt how good Arman was. And I just let him know how much I respect him and how much I appreciate the opportunity to compete against him.”
Tsarukyan remains one of the UFC’s top-ranked lightweight contenders. He enters his next chapter riding a five-fight winning streak and was previously scheduled to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title before that opportunity fell through. Despite his strong résumé, he has yet to receive another title shot or a confirmed No. 1 contender bout.