Covington Out Injured as Hall of Famer Weidman Steps In to Face Chimaev at RAF Abu Dhabi

The main event in Abu Dhabi has a new name on it, and it happened in the space of a single Monday morning. Real American Freestyle announced that Colby Covington is out of Saturday's headliner against Khamzat Chimaev, and that Chris Weidman — former UFC middleweight champion, UFC Hall of Famer, two-time NCAA Division I All-American — will step in on less than a week's notice.

It is a change that rewrites the whole shape of the card. Chimaev had been due to challenge for Covington's cruiserweight crossover title at the Etihad Arena on November 14, in the promotion's debut event in the United Arab Emirates. Instead, he will now meet Weidman for the inaugural RAF light heavyweight crossover title, a belt that did not even exist in the original plan, with four title matches topping a card that starts at 4pm UK time and streams live on Fox Nation.

Covington's withdrawal comes with an undisclosed injury, and it comes at the end of a bruising week for the man they call Chaos. Just last weekend he was submitted by Raul Rosas Jr. in 37 seconds at a Hype FC show in Rome, a result that already had people questioning whether a quick turnaround to Abu Dhabi was wise. Now the turnaround is off entirely. Covington had built something real under the RAF banner — he won the cruiserweight crossover title by beating Arman Tsarukyan and defended it against Belal Muhammad in September — but the body, it seems, has called time on this one.

Chimaev, for his part, is not buying the injury story. "(Colby) is not coming, he is scared," he wrote on X after the news broke, and when a fan suggested Sean Strickland as a replacement, his answer was the same: "He is scared too." It is classic Chimaev — blunt, unbothered, and already looking past the change to the fight itself. The former UFC middleweight champion has stayed busy away from the Octagon since losing to Strickland in May, collecting wins over Dillon Danis, Tyron Woodley, Gilbert Burns and Robbie Lawler under the RAF banner, and Saturday was supposed to be his first RAF title fight. It still is. Only the opponent and the belt have changed.

Weidman is no soft landing. He lost a close 5-4 decision to Covington in his RAF debut back in May, and he was beaten by Pat Downey in Fury Pro Grappling after his UFC career ended, but he remains one of the most decorated wrestlers to ever cross over into this world, and a man who has made a career out of being underestimated. He will walk into the Etihad Arena as the underdog and as the man with nothing to lose, which is a dangerous combination against a fighter as relentless as Chimaev.

The rest of the card keeps its shape, with UFC veterans Merab Dvalishvili and Marlon Moraes also set to meet in Abu Dhabi. But the story of the week is the switch at the top. Covington is out, Weidman is in, and Chimaev — who had been talking about breaking Covington's neck all week — now has a Hall of Famer standing across from him instead. Saturday just got a lot more interesting.