A rare non-title headliner tops the bill at UFC 272 on Saturday night.
Former training partners Jorge Masvidal (35-15) and Colby Covington (16-3), both fighting out of South Florida, will square off in the welterweight main event of the fight card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“This is just a personal rivalry, this isn’t about the money,” Covington said at Wednesday’s media day. “I didn’t come here to fight for money. I took a pay cut, I didn’t care about the money for this fight. This is about settling a blood rivalry.”
Competing in the same weight class, the duo were training partners at the vaunted American Top Team gym in Coconut Creek, Fla. But things went sideways between the two.
Covington, adopting a pro wrestling style persona, badmouthed Masvidal publicly, considered a no-no in MMA gym culture. Masvidal also accused Covington of stiffing a cornerman on his portion of Covington’s pay after a fight.
Both were kicked out of the gym as their beef heated up, but ultimately Masvidal was invited back while Covington’s ban became permanent.
Masvidal, for his part, says this fight won’t end the animosity.
“I can’t respect him in any way, shape, or form,” Masvidal said. “With Colby, it will always for as long as we live, we’ll always have a problem.”
Grudge aspect notwithstanding, there’s also a practical aspect to this fight: Both have lost twice to current welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, so both desperately need a victory to stay relevant.
The evening’s co-feature bout has a last-minute twist.
Rafael Fiziev had to drop out of his key lightweight fight with former champion Rafael dos Anjos (30-13) due to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, so Renato Moicano (16-4-1) flew 19 hours from Brazil to take the fight on short notice.
Moicano is 3-1 since moving up from featherweight, winning each of his past two fights. dos Anjos, who is also Brazilian, won his only fight over the past 26 months, but that was back in November 2020.
–Field Level Media
