Covington vs. Muhammad, Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo 2 set for RAF

Former UFC champions Colby Covington and Belal Muhammad will settle their rivalry on the wrestling mat at RAF 13 on Sept. 19 in Miami, the promotion announced Saturday.

The welterweights headline a card that also features a catchweight bout between influencers Larry Wheels and Mike Holston. Covington puts his RAF Cruiserweight Crossover Championship on the line against Muhammad, who confronted him after RAF 11 in July and sparked a brawl at the post-event press conference.

Dvalishvili-Cejudo rematch moved to August in Cleveland

Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo will run it back at RAF 12 on Aug. 22 in Cleveland, battling for the inaugural Lightweight Crossover championship. The bout marks their third combat sports meeting — Dvalishvili beat the Olympic gold medalist and two-division UFC champion via come-from-behind finish at an RAF event six weeks ago and also holds a UFC win over Cejudo from February 2024.

RAF co-founder Chad Bronstein initially targeted August for Covington-Muhammad but shifted the grudge match to September, per MMA Fighting. The Crossover titles were created to let UFC stars compete for belts without facing RAF's elite dedicated wrestlers like Kyle Snyder, Kyle Dake, and David Carr.

Covington won the first Crossover belt by defeating lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 11. Muhammad ran an unbeaten streak through five years in the UFC and briefly held the undisputed welterweight title, while Dvalishvili defended the bantamweight belt three straight times before moving to grappling competition.

Both RAF 12 and RAF 13 stream live on Fox Nation.

Photo: Inaquout / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Original reporting:

• mmafighting.com — Colby Covington vs. Belal Muhammad, Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo 2 official for upcoming RAF main events | MMA Fighting