# Chimaev Gets a New Opponent as Covington Pulls Out of RAF Abu Dhabi Source: SportsBriefly (https://sportsbriefly.com) Canonical URL: https://sportsbriefly.com/en/mma/chimaev-gets-a-new-opponent-as-covington-pulls-out-of-raf-abu-dhabi-2026-11-10-e Language: en Published: 2026-11-10T15:04:14.079+00:00 Updated: 2026-11-10T15:04:14.149194+00:00 > Chris Weidman replaces the injured Colby Covington against Khamzat Chimaev in Saturday's RAF Abu Dhabi main event. ## TL;DR - Chris Weidman replaces the injured Colby Covington against Khamzat Chimaev in Saturday's RAF Abu Dhabi main event. - Chimaev and Weidman will fight for the RAF Light Heavyweight Crossover Championship at the Etihad Arena on November 14. - Covington withdrew through injury a week after being submitted by Raul Rosas Jr. at Hype FC in Rome. - Weidman, a former UFC middleweight champion, lost his only previous RAF bout 5-4 to Covington in May. ## Key points - Chris Weidman replaces the injured Colby Covington against Khamzat Chimaev in Saturday's RAF Abu Dhabi main event. - Chimaev and Weidman will fight for the RAF Light Heavyweight Crossover Championship at the Etihad Arena on November 14. - Covington withdrew through injury a week after being submitted by Raul Rosas Jr. at Hype FC in Rome. - Weidman, a former UFC middleweight champion, lost his only previous RAF bout 5-4 to Covington in May. ## A main event rewritten in fight week Khamzat Chimaev will still headline Real American Freestyle's Middle East debut on Saturday — but the man standing across the mat from him, and the title on the line, have both changed with five days to go. Colby Covington has withdrawn from the RAF Abu Dhabi main event through injury, and former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman has stepped in as his replacement. Instead of challenging Covington for the Cruiserweight Crossover Championship, Chimaev will now meet Weidman for the RAF Light Heavyweight Crossover Championship at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on November 14. The promotion confirmed the switch on Monday, and the news was reported across the combat sports world on Tuesday. The unbeaten wrestling star had spent his camp preparing for Covington, a rival he has traded words with for months. Now he must reset for a taller, decorated opponent with a very different style, on five days' notice. Chimaev did not hide his frustration. "Colbi is not coming, he is scared," he wrote on X, misspelling his rival's name as he dismissed the injury explanation. Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, his message to the home crowd was simpler: "I'm gonna make you happy ... hopefully we're gonna get the belt here and smash someone for you." ## The champion who never got his shot Covington's withdrawal ends, at least for now, one of the most talked-about grudge matches in the young promotion's history. The former interim UFC welterweight champion had won five consecutive matches under the RAF banner and was set to put his Cruiserweight Crossover Championship on the line against Chimaev in front of a new audience in the Gulf. ![Chris Weidman during a USO World Tour visit in 2019](https://api.sportsbriefly.com/storage/v1/object/public/media/api/1794323035124-3zs89u-mma-inside1-2026-11-10-evening.jpg) The timing makes the withdrawal harder to explain away. Just a week earlier, on November 3, Covington was submitted by UFC bantamweight Raul Rosas Jr. in less than a minute in a grappling contest under the Hype FC banner in Rome. He had planned a quick turnaround to Abu Dhabi, but the injury — described by organisers as undisclosed — has forced him out altogether. RAF has not given a timetable for his return, and there is no word yet on whether the Chimaev-Covington bout will be rebooked. For Covington, the cost is obvious: a win over Chimaev would have been the biggest of his post-UFC career. Instead, he watches from the sidelines as another former UFC champion takes his place. ## The Hall of Famer who answered the call Weidman is no stranger to short-notice assignments, and his record gives the new main event genuine weight. The New Yorker is a two-time NCAA Division I All-American who famously ended Anderson Silva's record-breaking UFC middleweight title reign in 2013, then defended the belt three times. He retired from professional mixed martial arts in January 2025, but his competitive instincts clearly never left. His RAF career so far consists of a single appearance — a narrow 5-4 decision defeat to Covington in his promotional debut at RAF 9 in May. That loss now looks very different in hindsight: the man who beat Weidman in May is the same man whose withdrawal has handed him a title shot in November. Weidman returns to competitive wrestling in Abu Dhabi for the first time since that debut, and he does so against one of the most feared grapplers of his generation. The style clash is real. Weidman is a proven wrestler with a long record of beating elite opposition, but he is stepping in against a man who has not lost a wrestling match under the RAF banner. Chimaev holds a 27-0 wrestling record, according to reports in Abu Dhabi, with his most recent victory an 11-0 technical fall over Robbie Lawler. His RAF wins include Dillon Danis, Tyron Woodley and Gilbert Burns, and he made his promotional debut with a win over Danis in June. ## What is at stake in Abu Dhabi Saturday's card is far bigger than one bout. RAF Abu Dhabi features 14 matches with four RAF championships on the line, and the line-up reads like a meeting of wrestling and mixed martial arts royalty. Arman Tsarukyan features in the co-main event, while Umar Nurmagomedov, Merab Dvalishvili and Julianna Pena are all set to compete. Newly crowned five-time world champions Kyle Dake and Kyle Snyder are also on the card, alongside Olympic great Jordan Burroughs. ![The Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, venue for RAF Abu Dhabi](https://api.sportsbriefly.com/storage/v1/object/public/media/api/1794323050759-huffr2-mma-inside2-2026-11-10-evening.jpg) The event marks the beginning of a five-year partnership between RAF, the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi and the UAE Wrestling Federation, and the promotion has chosen its headliner carefully. Chimaev became a citizen of the United Arab Emirates in 2025 and is based in Dubai, making him the natural face of the Abu Dhabi debut. A win on Saturday would give him his first RAF title and a belt to defend in front of the crowd that has adopted him as its own. The event will stream live on Fox Nation in the United States and on StarzPlay across the Middle East and North Africa. For Weidman, a win over Chimaev would be the most surprising result of his long career and would instantly make him a champion in a second combat sport. For Chimaev, anything less than a dominant performance against a late replacement would raise questions he has never had to answer. Five days ago, this was a grudge match. Now it is a test of whether the sport's most feared wrestler can stay perfect when the plan falls apart. Mentions: Khamzat Chimaev, Chris Weidman, Colby Covington, Anderson Silva, Raul Rosas Jr., Robbie Lawler, Dillon Danis, Tyron Woodley, Gilbert Burns, Arman Tsarukyan, Umar Nurmagomedov, Merab Dvalishvili, Julianna Pena, Kyle Dake, Kyle Snyder, Jordan Burroughs, Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, Real American Freestyle, Fox Nation, StarzPlay ## Sources - [thenationalnews.com](https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/combat-sports/2026/11/09/raf-abu-dhabi-khamzat-chimaev-gets-new-opponent-after-colby-covington-pulls-out/) - [mmajunkie.usatoday.com](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/story/sports/ufc/2026/11/09/raf-abu-dhabi-colby-covington-out-khamzat-chimaev-vs-chris-weidman-booked/92687216007/) - [sherdog.com](https://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Khamzat-Chimaev-gets-Chris-Weidman-after-Colby-Covington-exit-203557) - [gulfnews.com](https://gulfnews.com/amp/story/sport%2Fchris-weidman-replaces-colby-covington-to-face-khamzat-chimaev-at-raf-abu-dhabi-1.500741945)