One of the UFC’s most heated rivalries is about to be settled.
Hours after word filtered out that the previously scheduled UFC 272 card had lost its second title fight in a matter of days, the UFC has moved quickly to fill the void with one of the welterweight division’s biggest-money fights: Jorge Masvidal vs. Colby Covington. News of this was first announced by ESPN.
The fight between the two former training partners turned bitter enemies comes hours after it was leaked that the bantamweight title rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan had been pushed back until March, a revelation which itself came just days after Max Holloway was forced to withdraw from a trilogy fight with featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski.
And with UFC 272 now shown of two world title fights, the UFC opted to fill the void with a fight which has been teased for years now. Both Masvidal and Covington will come into the fight on the back of two losses to champion Kamaru Usman (though Covington has a win against Tyron Woodley sandwiched in between), and the prospect of defeat would be incredibly hazardous to either man’s chances of working back towards world title contention.
This fight booking comes shortly after Masvidal teased on social media that he had been offered the fight against Covington and told his rival not to “p*ssy out”.
They gonna call you and hopefully the 4th time is a charm you fucking coward. Don’t pussy out now @ColbyCovMMA
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) January 7, 2022
The animosity between both can be traced back to their time spent training together at American Top Team in Florida. The two men, who used to live together, appear to have since had a significant falling out — though some whispers remain as to how much of the animosity is genuine and how much is amplified by either fighter’s ‘sports entertainment’ personas.
Either way though, it is undeniable that there is a large appetite among fight fans to see this one take place and now all you have to do is wait until March 5.
