Islam Makhachev has accepted Colby Covington’s charity challenge, and then he raised it. Speaking with Red Corner MMA in Tashkent, the UFC champion said he would play Covington in padel or meet him on the wrestling mat. He also offered to put another $100,000 toward charity, which pushes the total pot to $200,000.
His read on Covington’s chances didn’t leave much room. “I think he’s got no chance. Neither in wrestling nor in padel,” Makhachev said in the clip Red Corner MMA posted on November 6. He closed by saying he isn’t against the idea, which counts as enthusiasm in Dagestan.
The padel angle came first. Makhachev recently put more than $600,000 into a premium padel club and center in Makhachkala, and Covington noticed. On Submission Radio, Covington floated a doubles match where each fighter picks a professional padel player as a partner and $100,000 goes to charity. Makhachev brought up wrestling himself, almost as an aside.
Covington’s Busy Side Hustle
Covington has spent the last stretch piling up wins away from the Octagon, competing in wrestling and submission-only events. He beat Arman Tsarukyan to win Real American Freestyle’s crossover cruiserweight championship, and he’s booked against Khamzat Chimaev at RAF Abu Dhabi on November 14. He isn’t the only UFC name doing this. Tsarukyan, Chimaev and Merab Dvalishvili have all turned up at RAF and Hype Fighting events while keeping their MMA careers going.
Makhachev has been the conspicuous holdout. Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs called him out recently, and the champion didn’t bite. That changed a few days before the Tashkent interview, when his manager, Rizvan Magomedov, named Covington as one of several possible wrestling opponents. Chimaev and former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman were also on Magomedov’s list.
Nothing is booked. There’s no date, no venue and no rule set, and nobody has said which court or mat this would happen on. What exists right now is two fighters publicly agreeing that a charity contest sounds fine, plus a $200,000 number that neither has walked back.
Sal’s Take
No book is hanging a line on padel between a UFC champion and Colby Covington, and I’m grateful, because I’d bet it and lose. If they play padel, I’m laying it on the guy who owns the club. A man doesn’t drop $600,000 on a padel facility and then lose to the fella who brought it up on a podcast. The wrestling version is the one that actually interests me as a numbers guy. Covington is the active crossover champion with recent mat reps against Tsarukyan. Makhachev hasn’t stepped into this scene at all, and I’d normally be the first to fade a guy making his debut in a new format. I also know who I’m talking about, and I’m still not fading a Dagestani champion in a grappling-only contest because he skipped a few RAF cards. The smart money waits for November 14. If Covington gets past Chimaev in Abu Dhabi, he has real leverage to drag this onto the mat. If Chimaev beats him, Colby had better start practicing his backhand.
