Based on new comments from UFC welterweight star Jorge Masvidal, he may not have been as close to upcoming opponent Colby Covington as we might have all thought.
As UFC 272 on March 5 draws closer, the hype for the main event bout between friends turned enemies Masvidal (35-15) and Covington (16-3) is picking up in intensity. The duos past as roommates and teammates at American Top Team is well documented. In the past, “Chaos” has referred to “Gamebred” as his best friend. Which led many to assume the 37-year-old once felt the same way before their eventual fallout. However, in a new conversation with MMAJunkie, the BMF champion explained how he started to lack trust in Covington early on.
The first sign that made Masvidal question the character of the two-time UFC welterweight title challenger was how he mistreated and spoke about his mother and sister. Masvidal then said that Covington also talked badly about former college roommate and eventual UFC superstar Jon Jones. However, what the Floridian claims really put a bad taste in his mouth was how Covington spoke about working with Tyron Woodley during a fight camp for the former welterweight champion. The comments came despite Covington being well paid to serve as a sparring partner.
Jorge Masvidal explains Colby Covington’s mistreatment of friends and family
“With Jon Jones, he had numerous situations. He would always talk bad about Jon Jones. Woodley, I was there for the whole thing. Jon Jones, I wasn’t there in college with them, but the whole Woodley thing, I was and Woodley brought him out. He was giving him like $1,000 a week, something crazy like that when this guy was an amateur just to train with him for four weeks,” Masvidal explained. “Sponsors, food, and then he just came back talking sh*t about Woodley in a negative way.
“Like, ‘Man, I would beat Woodley in a fight and this and that. But negative. Not like, I’ve got more cardio than him, I’m better technically, I’d do good against Woodley. I can beat him. No, just talking bad, saying what a piece of crap he was. Just nonsense. So I was like if this guy’s going around talking about everybody like that, that’s just who he is, you know? There’s like nobody he respects, whatsoever.”
Covington revealing his true self made Masvidal realize that he needed to slowly break the bond between the pair. However, that situation was accelerated when Covington allegedly stiffed Masvidal’s coach on the money he owed him.
“I was already like, let me start separating myself from this guy little by little, and then, ‘Bam!’ Before I could even like fully, he betrayed my coach,” he said. “Didn’t pay him the money that was agreed upon and I knew since then I’m gonna hurt this guy.”
UFC 272 takes place on March 5 from inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The main card pay-per-view, which is headlined by Masvidal vs Covington, begins at 10 pm ET.
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