Askren has an interesting take on the upcoming wrestling match
between Colby
Covington and Arman
Tsarukyan.
Covington (17-5) and Tsarukyan (23-3) will headline RAF 11 on July
18 at the UWM Panther Arena in Milwaukee. While Tsarukyan is
considered to be in his prime, Askren believes Covington will give
him a close contest. Askren notes that Tsarukyan will be going up
in weight against Covington, who has wrestled at even heavier
weight classes before. Regardless, Askren believes Tsarukyan will
edge out Covington by a single point.
A Tough Call
“It’s interesting because Arman is going up in weight,” Askren said
on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I believe they’re
wrestling at 185 [pounds], while Colby has wrestled a couple of his
matches at 200 pounds… Colby’s clearly the larger person. I don’t
know. I’m very split on it. I think it’s kind of a coin flip. Colby
– Weidman was a fun one… Arman did have some close matches against
Georgio Poullas, who was an all right college wrestler, I guess
we’ll say. I don’t really know what to expect. I think it’s gonna
be competitive. I’ll go with Arman by a point.”
While Covington last fight in the
UFC was in 2024, he only recently parted ways with the
promotion to fully dedicate himself to RAF. Meanwhile, Tsarukyan
has been active at RAF as he awaits a UFC lightweight title shot.
Covington and Tsarukyan are both undefeated at RAF. Covington has
defeated Luke
Rockhold, Dillon
Danis, and Chris
Weidman. Meanwhile, Tsarukyan has defeated Georgio Poullas
twice, and Lance
Palmer, Keelon
Jimison aka “Mugzy,” and Urijah
Faber. Tsarukyan predicts that he will beat Covington 10-0 at
RAF 11.
Ben Askren
breaks down Arman
Tsarukyan x Colby
Covington:“Colby’s clearly the larger person. I don’t know. I’m very split on
it. I think it’s kind of a coin flip.Colby x Weidman was a fun one. Arman did have some close matches
against Georgio Poullas, who was a college… pic.twitter.com/H0UcndnwLC— Ariel
Helwani (@arielhelwani)
June 1, 2026