Merab Dvalishvili needed three words to sum up what Raul Rosas Jr. did to Colby Covington in Italy. “bantamweight power 🦾” he wrote on X early Wednesday, quote-posting a clip of Rosas making Covington tap.
The match took place Nov. 3 at Hype Italy under submission-only rules. Viral posts from Happy Punch, MMA Orbit and others clocked the finish at 40 seconds. Covington’s Wikipedia entry lists it as a rear-naked choke at 43 seconds. Either way, Covington was in trouble before most people had found their seats.
Conor McGregor had a different reaction. Spinnin Backfist posted footage showing McGregor dying laughing at the result, and the clip took off on r/MMA within minutes. McGregor has his own business to think about. He said earlier this week that his next fight will be his last, and that he plans to actually try to sell it.
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Why this one landed
On paper, Covington was the wrong guy to choke this fast. He’s 17-5 in MMA, a former interim UFC welterweight champion, a two-time All-American wrestler at Oregon State, and a 2013 FILA no-gi grappling world champion. He’s also been rolling through Real American Freestyle in 2026, beating Luke Rockhold, Dillon Danis, Chris Weidman and Arman Tsarukyan. That last win earned him the inaugural RAF Cruiserweight Crossover title. He then defended it against Belal Muhammad by technical fall in Round 2 on Sept. 19.
That’s a lot of grappling credibility to hand a kid who was born in October 2004. Rosas is 13-1, sits No. 10 at bantamweight in the Knockout Daily rankings and trains out of 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Las Vegas. He became the youngest fighter the UFC ever signed when he got his contract off Dana White’s Contender Series at 17. He then became the youngest to win a UFC fight when he submitted Jay Perrin at UFC 282. His only loss is a 2023 decision to Christian Rodriguez, who missed weight for that bout.
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The size gap is what makes the clip absurd. Covington has been competing at cruiserweight in RAF, and Rosas fights at 135. Rosas still found the back and finished in under a minute against a man who has spent his whole life keeping people off it.
No follow-up booking has been announced for either man. Rosas last competed in MMA on Sept. 26. Covington hasn’t fought in MMA since Dec. 14, 2024, and his RAF belt was not on the line in Italy, so the title stays with him. The 43 seconds will follow him anyway.
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