Just after Ben Askren makes his miraculous return to the wrestling mats at RAF 11, the main event goes down with Arman Tsarukyan taking on Colby Covington in one of the most anticipated matches of the year.
With a 7-0 record in RAF, Tsarukyan has largely run roughshod over his competition since debuting with the promotion but Covington is undoubtedly his toughest test to date. At his peak, Covington as an All-American at Oregon State and he’s also just a naturally bigger athlete after competing primarily at 170 pounds throughout his UFC career.
As a wrestler turned fighter himself, Askren seeks advantages for both Tsarukyan and Covington and the match really could come down to a one huge move or one key mistake.
“I think it’s interesting,” Askren told MMA Fighting about the RAF 11 main event. “Colby was a Division I All-American, albeit I think it was 2008 or 2009, I might get the year wrong there, but he was a very solid wrestler but 2009 is 17 years ago. We’ve seen if you don’t keep wrestling and that was the thing with me, I did mixed martial arts but I was running a wrestling academy and wrestling with really high level guys on a very regular basis. But if you step out and you don’t do it for 15 to 20 years, there’s a significant deterioration of skills that happens in that time window. MMA is not the same as wrestling. There are similarities but they’re not the same.
“Colby’s bigger obviously, just a bigger person. He did get a little tired — I think [Chris] Weidman got more tired in their last match — but Colby did get tired. I see it as a very competitive match.”
Askren identified one area in particular where Tsarukyan has shown great strength since he started putting so much attention on wrestling while awaiting his next fight in the UFC.
“I think if Colby shoots in, one of Arman’s strengths is the front headlock, chest wrap type position,” Askren said. “He’s pretty good there. If he can get there, I see him winning the match.”
On the flipside, Covington using his size and strength could give Tsarukyan problems and overall Askren just identifies the former UFC interim welterweight champion as an overall better wrestler.
“If Colby’s able to push and pull and move him a little bit more and get to a couple of clean leg attacks, I would see Colby winning,” Askren said. “I’d probably lean just slightly to Colby just due to his size advantage.”
