Ben Askren and Colby Covington shared a Real American Freestyle card last weekend, but their long-running UFC tension was still evident away from the mat. Askren said Covington’s remarks about Belal Muhammad and Muhammad’s wife crossed a line he does not want to be around.
Askren and Covington both competed at RAF 11 last weekend, sharing a card that also kept their UFC-era tension in view. Askren wrestled former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad in the co-main event, losing 6-3 in what he described as his final wrestling match.
Ben Askren Explains Why He Is Keeping His Distance From Colby Covington After RAF 11
The US-born wrestler said he tries not to carry resentment but has little interest in rebuilding a relationship with Covington. “I try not to hold grudges, but Colby just rubs me the wrong way because he doesn’t say good things about people,” Askren said.
The former Bellator champion pointed to Covington’s comments during Friday’s RAF 11 press conference. “If you watched what he said at the press conference on Friday about Belal, and specifically about Belal’s wife, it was gross,” Askren said. “It was just terrible human-being stuff.”
At the RAF 11 pre-event press conference, Covington mocked Muhammad’s appearance before insulting Muhammad’s wife, who is the mother of his child. Covington first congratulated Muhammad on becoming a father, then asked, “Who the f— let you hit?” He continued by calling Muhammad “one of the ugliest” people he had seen and said Muhammad’s partner “must look like a gargoyle,” a remark that triggered Muhammad’s anger and later drew Askren’s criticism.
The 42-year-old Askren is an NCAA Division I Wrestler who also represented the United States in the Olympics. He recently received a double lung transplant.
Askren acknowledged that fighters often sell events through verbal battles, but he drew a firm line around families. “We’re in show business, and I get the whole trash-talking thing, but don’t bring Belal’s wife into it,” he said. “I think a lot of the things he does are just kind of gross.”
RAF 11 placed both men in the same promotion’s orbit, with Covington competing against UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan and Askren facing Belal Muhammad.
Colby Covington Doesn’t Care For Ben Askren Either
Covington has a different reading of the situation. He said he is willing to leave the rivalry in the past and credited Askren for his role with the growing wrestling promotion. “I’m willing to take the high road, and I’m just grateful for Ben and him being behind the scenes at RAF,” Covington said.
Still, Covington admitted the dynamic has not fully cooled. “Definitely, you can still see some friction there,” he said. “For whatever reason, Ben doesn’t like me.”
Covington framed their issues through the lens of their UFC years, when both were established names at welterweight but never met inside the Octagon. “We were the fiercest of rivals in the UFC,” Covington said. “He wanted everything that I had, but unfortunately, he fell a little short.”
The former interim UFC welterweight champion added that he holds no ill will toward the Olympic wrestler. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t still want him to succeed,” Covington said. “I’m thankful to have headlined a card with him.”
Askren, meanwhile, does not appear interested in extending the conversation. “He can choose to do that, but I’m probably not going to interact with him because I just don’t see the point,” he said.
