Colby Covington probably made things a little harder on himself but ultimately showed off his wrestling superiority as he shut down Dillon Danis in the RAF 7 co-main event.
As an All-American wrestler during his college days, Covington was heavily favored to win but he got a little sloppy early, which allowed Danis to end the first period with a 4-4 tie. But the second period saw Covington snatch a takedown and then he began turning Danis on the mat as the points just started racking up with each move.
A another snap down and a go behind put more points up for Covington.
Eventually, Covington got to a score of 14-4 and the match was called as the former interim welterweight UFC champion got the job done with a tech fall victory. Danis looked disappointed in his performance but left the mats without an incident as he came up short in his RAF debut.
Following the match, Covington called for a showdown against another former UFC champion in his next appearance in RAF.
“I want Chris Weidman,” Covington shouted. “Let’s find out who the real American is right here on the Real American Freestyle mats. Get off your couch, pack a lunch because it’s going to be a long night Chris Weidman. We’re going to find out who’s the real All American.”
Danis actually grabbed a single leg to open the match but Covington quickly countered and reversed positions for a takedown. A split second later, Danis actually got in deep on a single leg again and this time he delivered a takedown of his own to tie the score at 2-2 in the first period
Covington picked up two more points for a pair of pushouts but Danis managed to scramble for another reversal to tie things up again.
On the restart, Covington decided he was done playing around and he got Danis down to the ground again but this time he grabbed onto the gut wrench and started turning and rolling, which allowed him to score a lot of points. The barrage continued as Covington was relentless with his attacks until he got to a 10 point lead and that ended the match.
To his credit, Danis put together a solid performance considering how much he was seemingly overmatched against a legit All-American in Covington.
Covington is now 2-0 in RAF with wins over Danis and Luke Rockhold and it appears he’s going to be plotting his comeback there sooner than later.