Colby Covington said “that’s the end” of Jorge Masvidal after defeating his long-time rival at UFC 272 in Las Vegas on Sunday morning – and has now set sights on another former teammate, Dustin Poirier.
Covington and Masvidal, former friends, training partners and even roommates, carried their feud into the octagon in the headline event at T-Mobile Arena, with the former prevailing by unanimous decision. The judges scored the bout 49-46, 50-44, 50-45.
Speaking to the media post-fight, Covington said: “That’s the end of ‘Street Judas’. I don’t want to hear any more talk about the hype machine, who hit lightning in a bottle for a couple of fights. He’s done. I don’t want to hear another word about him.
“You saw Jorge, he just came out to take that losing paycheque. There’s a reason he signed that [UFC] contract [last week] before he fought me tonight. He knew he couldn’t beat me. He knew if he put up his best performance like he did tonight... that was my worst performance and it was still an easy night of work for me.”
Covington, the welterweight’s No 1-ranked contender, returned to the win column following November’s loss in his rematch with champion Kamaru Usman. The former interim belt-holder, 34, said he wants a trilogy bout with the sport’s current pound-for-pound king – Usman triumphed in their first clash, in December 2019 – although, with Usman currently injured, he called out Poirier instead.
Like with Masvidal, the pair used to be teammates at American Top Team before Covington left the stable following an acrimonious split. Poirier, who typically competes at lightweight, said recently he would fight Covington (now 17-3 in professional MMA) anytime, anywhere.
On Sunday, Covington said: “I’ll beat them both up [Masvidal and Poirier] in the same night. I used to do it every Tuesday and Thursday at 'American Trash Team', so bring him out.
“Let’s do it, bro. You said it’s ‘on site’, man. Stop talking reckless to the media. If I talk to the media and say things, I come out here and back it up. I talk the talk, walk the walk. I’m a man of my word.
“We can do it anywhere; we don’t have to do it in a UFC octagon, if he wants to do it in the park or in the street. My only stipulation is you let the world watch it and enjoy themselves.”
Asked if he respected Masvidal (35-16 in pro MMA) the competitor, Covington replied: “Absolutely not. He’s a fraud. And he got exposed for the journeyman he is tonight.
“Nothing in there surprised me. Another dominant performance. Whooped his [expletive] from second 1 to minute 25. You could see in his body language he had nothing left in the fight. I was ready for another five rounds in the parking lot.
"It wasn't my best performance. Just a lot of emotions going into it. That was a real friend of mine at one point in my career... I let my emotions get the best of me. But it was still dominant. I just showed how good I was, that I am the No 1 fighter in the world for a reason. It wasn’t even competitive tonight."
Masvidal, 37, did rock Covington in the fourth round, but failed to follow up on a thudding right hand that forced his opponent onto his knee.
"I was tired," Masvidal said afterwards. "He was tired and hurt. That was my chance right there. ... I didn't take that opening. I should have had more moments like that, but I was off today. I didn't have it."
"If I fight another wrestler, I need to make sure I can deal with this thing. I need to fix the wrestling, man."
Masvidal insisted the bad blood between him and Covington remains, saying: "He's still a guy that, if I saw him out in the streets, I'm going to give him everything I've got to break his [expletive] jaw."
