Colby Covington has broken his silence after Raul Rosas Jr. submitted him in 43 seconds, DAZN reported on Thursday. The loss came on November 3 at Hype Italy in a submission-only grappling match, and Rosas finished it with a rear-naked choke before most people had settled into their seats.
The clips spread fast. “Raul Rosas Jr just made Colby Covington tap out in 40 seconds 🤯,” Happy Punch wrote on X, rounding the clock down a bit. Spinnin Backfist posted footage it said showed Conor McGregor reacting, writing on X: “Conor McGregor was dying laughing after Raul Rosas subbed Colby Covington 💀”
Why it landed so hard
Covington walked into this match on a heater. He’s a former interim UFC welterweight champion (17-5 in MMA, No. 37 at welterweight in our rankings, last MMA fight December 14, 2024), and his move to Real American Freestyle had gone perfectly. He beat Luke Rockhold in January, Dillon Danis in March and Chris Weidman in May. In July he beat Arman Tsarukyan for the inaugural RAF Cruiserweight Crossover Championship, then defended it against Belal Muhammad on September 19 by technical fall in Round 2.
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That’s a freestyle résumé, though, and freestyle doesn’t punish you for giving up your back. Submission-only grappling does, immediately. Covington’s wrestling pedigree is real (two-time Pac-10 champion at 174 pounds, NCAA All-American at Oregon State, 2013 FILA no-gi world gold), but Rosas trains out of 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Las Vegas, and a 10th Planet kid who reaches the back is a problem for anyone.
The kid on the other side
Rosas is 13-1 and a UFC bantamweight. He’s No. 10 in our rankings and was No. 8 in the UFC’s official rankings as of September 26. He became the youngest fighter ever signed by the UFC at 17. His only loss came against Christian Rodriguez at UFC 287, and he already has a rear-naked choke win in the Octagon, over Ricky Turcios in Round 2 in June 2024.
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So a 135-pounder tapped a man who has spent the year beating middleweights and lightweights in a wrestling ruleset. That’s the part fans will keep replaying. The detail I’d point to is the clock. Forty-three seconds means Covington never got to wrestle at all.
Rosas, whose last UFC fight came on September 26, gets a viral clip and a name nobody at bantamweight can match. Covington still holds his RAF belt, but anyone booking him in a ruleset with chokes now has 43 seconds of tape on how to beat him.
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