Colby Covington and Dillon Danis Set for Submission-Only Rematch in Rome
The former UFC interim champ and the jiu-jitsu provocateur will grapple Nov. 3 in Rome under Hype Fighting.
Colby Covington and Dillon Danis are running it back. Hype Fighting Championship announced the pair will headline a submission-only grappling card on Nov. 3 in Rome, Italy, per a social media announcement Wednesday afternoon.
Covington, 38, already owns a wrestling win over Danis from their RAF 7 meeting in Tampa back in March. That was folkstyle wrestling on Covington's terms. This time the format tilts toward Danis, a legitimate black belt under Marcelo Garcia who built his name on the mat before building his brand on the internet.
The booking comes less than two weeks after Covington was hospitalized and pulled from his scheduled co-main event at Hype Quito on Oct. 4, per Yardbarker. He had been slated to face Mayton Perea under the same submission-only rules. Event organizers cited medical reasons but did not disclose the specific issue.
Covington retired from MMA in May after going 2-4 in his last six octagon appearances, but the former interim UFC welterweight champion has stayed active on the grappling circuit. He signed with Hype Fighting Championship in August and ran through RAF opponents Rockhold, Weidman, and Arman Tsarukyan in addition to Danis.
Danis has bounced between combat sports platforms since his brief jiu-jitsu competition career, including a Misfits Boxing stint and a 15-second submission win under the Hype banner. Rome will test whether his ground game can solve the relentless pressure of one of the best wrestlers in MMA history.
I'll be honest: the first time these two fought, at RAF 7, it was a mismatch. Covington ragdolled Danis for the full match and it wasn't competitive. But submission-only is a different animal. You take away Covington's ability to win on control time and riding legs, and suddenly Danis has a path. He's a legit black belt. He can attack off his back.
That said, I still pick Covington. His top pressure is suffocating, and he's not the kind of wrestler who leaves his neck hanging out there. The bigger question is his health. The man was in a hospital in Ecuador eleven days ago and nobody's explained why. If he's cleared and healthy, he smothers Danis for ten minutes and the crowd in Rome goes home disappointed. If he's compromised, that's where it gets interesting.
Submission-only in Rome sounds like a fever dream, but this is combat sports in 2026. I'm watching.
