Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley shared his thoughts on Colby Covington vs. Khamzat Chimaev in RAF. Woodley pointed to the strengths and weaknesses of both competitors to explain who may have an edge.
Real American Freestyle officially announced that Covington will defend his RAF crossover cruiserweight championship against Chimaev at RAF Abu Dhabi. The event takes place at Etihad Arena on Nov. 14.
Covington has been active since signing with RAF. He is unbeaten in the promotion, holding notable victories over Chris Weidman, Belal Muhammad, and Chimaev’s teammate Arman Tsarukyan.
Chimaev, meanwhile, is also unbeaten and most recently earned a dominant tech fall victory over Woodley. ‘Borz’ is staying busy, as he is also scheduled to face former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler at RAF 14 on Oct. 23.
Ex-UFC Champion Tyron Woodley Gives Blunt Take on Colby Covington vs. Khamzat Chimaev in RAF
Tyron Woodley believes Colby Covington will try to use his cardio to his advantage against former UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev.
Woodley admitted that he is not too fond of the matchup because he does not have close relationships with either competitor. However, he believes Covington will attempt to defeat Chimaev with his cardio.
By pushing an intense pace and making it a grueling matchup, ‘Chaos’ could have a better chance to win.
“I hate this matchup because I’m not team anybody. But what I will say is that Colby just has this cardio, man. He is the laziest you-know-what, but his cardio is always amazing, no matter how lazy he is in the gym. Everybody that trained with him, all the people that know him, they know about him. He is one of the few athletes that just naturally has crazy cardio, and I feel like Khamzat Chimaev, the biggest knock on him is his cardio. And I feel like Colby is dumb, but he’s also smart. He is going to exploit that, he’s going to press him, and he’s going to try to gas him,” Woodley exclusively told Heavy Sports via Mr. Gamble.
“[Covington] is going to make it a grueling match, and he’s going to make it one of cardio. Colby’s also a good wrestler. He’s not the greatest wrestler, but he’s good enough and smart enough to play on things that make sense for him to do, and he’s going to do that with the cardio aspect,” Woodley said. “Unfortunately, if you ever think about any knock on Khamzat, what is it? It’s always cardio. So, I don’t know what he’s going to change in the training camp to address that.”
Woodley Shares His Impressions of RAF
Woodley also heaped praise on RAF as a promotion, as well as Chad Bronstein for his work behind the scenes. The former welterweight champion is impressed from what he has seen and by his own experience competing on the RAF mat.
“I’m impressed with Chad [Bronstein] and the integrity, how frequently they’re putting matches on and how, in their first year, they’ve already been in different countries. They sell out arenas,” Woodley exclusively told Heavy Sports via Mr. Gamble. “Now everybody wants to get a shot wrestling for them: jiu-jitsu guys, MMA guys, current wrestlers.”
He continued:
“From a spectator standpoint, it’s phenomenal. I’m excited to compete a couple more times this year.”
Ex-UFC Champion Gives Blunt Take on Colby Covington vs. Khamzat Chimaev in RAF