With his rivalry with Tyron Woodley now resolved, Colby Covington has turned his attention to another welterweight foe with whom he has significant history.
Covington, who routed Woodley earlier this month en route to a fifth round injury TKO win, has long been linked with a fight with former training partner and ‘best friend’ Jorge Masvidal and he says that the time is finally right to set a fight between the two to establish which of them remains in title contention for a second date with welterweight champ Kamaru Usman.
“This needs to be settled,” Covington told Submission Radio of his rivalry with Masvidal, via MMA Fighting. “We’re the top fighters in the world, his hype is coming to an end, and I want to be the one to put it to an end. I’m sick of him talking to the media and not having to account for his words.
“Dana White came up to me after my fight immediately and said, ‘Hey, we want to do you versus Street Judas Masvidal.’ I accepted right on that night, in that minute. He knows I’m on board, the UFC knows I’m on board, now it’s just about getting Street Judas Masvidal onboard. That guy is scared. He’s scared of my shadow. If my shadow was around him, he’d be running.
“So who knows if he’ll show up to the octagon. I don’t want to have to beat him up in the streets of Miami because I am the King of Miami, but I don’t want to beat him up in the streets of Miami. because if I beat him up there, no one is going to pay his hospital bills. At least if I go out there and expose him in front of the world in the UFC octagon on live television, then he’ll get his medical bills paid for.”
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Fight fans, one suspects, are now somewhat immune to Covington’s brand of trash-talk but it is difficult to suggest otherwise that a fight between the former American Top Team training partners would be a momentous bout, both in terms of promotion and their levels of animosity towards one another.
Furthermore, it would be an extremely relevant fight in the UFC welterweight title picture.
“The thing is, Jorge is gonna have to show up to fight me one day,” Covington said. “He’s got to pay his ex-wife’s lawyer fees, he’s got to pay alimony payments, he’s got some other payments he’s got to pay, so he’s gonna be broke soon, he’s gonna come running to daddy, and he knows the only money fight he’s getting is me. I’m his money fight. That other fight they’re trying to do with that Soy Boy, they’re not trying to do that fight. That’s just a fight he’s begging for because he won it one-sided and now he’s looking for an easy fight.
“This is the fight that’s being presented to him, it’s the only fight that should be made, and it’s the biggest fight, probably, that they can make in the UFC right now. It’s a pay-per-view main event, it’s a five-rounder, it’s an exciting matchup with fireworks on the line. I’m not gonna be looking to dance on his feet like Marty Fakenewsman did, I’m gonna be looking to dance on his face, break his face, and he’s leaving that octagon in a body bag. Mark my words.”
