Formerly great friends, now hated rivals. Covington and Masvidal will end their enmity. How does Usman see their fight?

This weekend will be the culmination of a major feud in the welterweight division in the UFC. The UFC 272 gala in Las Vegas will feature a fight between former friends Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal. However, the former American Top Team colleagues are unlikely to bury the hatchet even after the fight.

Their friendship reportedly ended after Covington refused to pay one of Masvidal’s trainers, Paulino Hernandez. Those frictions eventually culminated in Covington’s firing from American Top Team.

Covington always spares no insults to his opponent, his family, his country, or even his religion before every fight. Each time, he tries to wage psychological warfare with his opponents before the cage door closes behind them.

Masvidal is not exactly a saint in this regard, but he usually limits himself to his opponent. In his own words, you don’t have to be a complete bastard to sell pay per view. You don’t have to insult wives, religions or children.

Masvidal returns to the cage after eleven months when he faced welterweight division champion Kamaru Usman, suffering the first real KO of his long career. Both Covington and Masvidal clashed with Usman. Both fought him twice and both lost. Once on points and once by stoppage.

That’s why Kamaru Usman is the most qualified person to evaluate the qualities of both fighters. Usman was particularly complimentary about Masvidal: “He is capable of defending takedowns of the best wrestlers. At the same time, his striking is relaxed and he has quick hands. Maybe his punches aren’t that hard, but Masvidal is able to hit the switch and finish it.”

The welterweight champion also revealed what he expects from both fighters, “ Colby will realize that he won’t take Masvidal down that easily. And Masvidal will realize that he won’t hit Covington as easily as he did when he first went for the title with me.”

Whether the champion’s words come true or not, we can expect a heated battle where neither fighter gives the other anything. We’ll witness the culmination of one long-standing feud that certainly isn’t playing out for either man.

Sources