RAF 11 Results: Covington Upsets Tsarukyan, and Ben Askren's Comeback From a Double Lung Transplant Steals the Show

Reviewed by BJJ Gyms · Updated 2026-07-27

Covington Hands Tsarukyan His First RAF Loss

Real American Freestyle's crossover title fight lived up to the hype. Arman Tsarukyan, an accomplished UFC lightweight contender with a wrestling pedigree that made him a favorite in this format, ran into a version of Colby Covington who out-scrambled and out-pointed him across the match. The final tally, 5-3, handed Tsarukyan his first loss in the promotion and gave Covington the inaugural RAF Crossover Championship.

For a sport built on freestyle wrestling exchanges rather than strikes, the scoreline tells most of the story: this was a close, physical battle decided by whoever converted more scrambles into points, not a blowout in either direction.

Ben Askren's Return Was the Real Headline

Wrestling and MMA fans had circled this one for a different reason. Ben Askren, a two-time NCAA Division I champion and former UFC welterweight, needed a double lung transplant less than a year before this event and has described the recovery in stark terms, including moments where his heart stopped multiple times during the ordeal. Stepping back onto a competition mat at all was already the win.

Askren lost the match itself, 6-3, to former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad. But he competed hard, matching a world-class wrestler in a live scramble format just months removed from a transplant most people never fully recover from athletically. It is the kind of story that reframes what a loss on a scorecard actually means.

Edgar-Guida and What RAF Means for Grapplers

Frankie Edgar handled Clay Guida 9-1 in a matchup of two fighters whose entire UFC careers were built on wrestling-based scrambles and gas tanks. Watching two veterans who spent over a decade grinding out MMA decisions now compete in a pure freestyle format strips away the striking and shows exactly why their wrestling made them so hard to finish in the cage.

RAF's entire premise, taking MMA-famous fighters and letting them compete in straight folkstyle-adjacent freestyle wrestling, keeps producing matches that double as a wrestling clinic. For anyone training jiu-jitsu who neglects their takedown and scramble game, cards like this are a reminder that wrestling fundamentals translate directly into who controls a fight, on the mat or on the feet.

It also says something about longevity. Edgar and Guida both spent well over a decade in the UFC's lightweight and featherweight divisions, absorbing exactly the kind of wear and tear that ends most careers early. Watching them still competing at a high level in a lower-impact grappling format, rather than hanging it up entirely, is a good argument for why building a real wrestling and grappling base early pays off decades later, long after the striking exchanges stop making sense for an aging body.

5 Takeaways for Grapplers Watching RAF

Freestyle wrestling exchanges have plenty to offer a jiu-jitsu practitioner, even without any submissions on the card.

1. Scrambles Decide Points Matches: Covington's win over Tsarukyan came down to who converted more scramble exchanges into scored positions, the same skill that wins BJJ matches on the feet and in transitions.
2. Conditioning Wins Close Matches: Edgar's gas tank at 44 years old against Guida shows why cardio training matters as much as technique in any grappling-heavy format.
3. A Loss Is Not Always a Loss: Askren's scoreline says he lost. His return from a double lung transplant says something completely different about what he actually accomplished.
4. Wrestling Base Shows Up Everywhere: Every fighter on this card built their MMA career on wrestling first. RAF just strips away the striking to show that foundation directly.
5. Crossover Formats Keep Veterans Competing: RAF gives former MMA stars a legitimate, injury-conscious way to keep competing in grappling long after striking exchanges stop making sense for their bodies.

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