Mike Brown has confirmed that Colby Covington’s leaked information surrounding the injury that forced Jorge Masvidal out of UFC 269 was correct.
In one of the most highly-anticipated grudge matches available in the UFC right now, Masvidal was set to face #3-ranked welterweight contender Leon Edwards at the final pay-per-view of the year this weekend. The story, which began backstage at a UFC London event in 2019, looked set to culminate on a stacked Las Vegas card.
A month out from the event, news broke that “Gamebred” had been forced to withdraw due to an “undisclosed injury.”
Prior to the announcement, Covington, off the back of a second championship loss to Kamaru Usman, made his desire to face his former friend and teammate known. Masvidal’s withdrawal certainly provided him the means with which to further attack the Miami native and push for a 2022 clash with the 37-year-old.
Late last month, “Chaos” even claimed to have received leaked details about the injury that saw Masvidal vs. Edwards pulled from the December 11 PPV. After Masvidal suggested there’s no reason for him to discuss his injuries online during an interview with Ariel Helwani, Covington effectively took that decision out of his hands, claiming the BMF titleholder damaged his ribs in training.
Brown Explains Masvidal’s UFC 269 Withdrawal
Now, in an interview with ESPN MMA ahead of American Top Team star Dustin Poirier’s main event fight with Charles Oliveira, Mike Brown has confirmed that Covington’s information was accurate. The renowned coach revealed Masvidal suffered a “pretty tough rib injury” that made it impossible to make the UFC 269 date.
“Jorge Masvidal was training like crazy, man. This guy was back to the laboratory as always, working his ass off, and he was in shape. I feel like we were just starting to begin to peak to the fight a little bit but I don’t know how many weeks we were out. Maybe four weeks out and he got a pretty good cartilage tear. A pretty tough rib injury and I know it was significant where you are not going to be training for like four to six weeks when you have a major tear like that. It was going to be impossible to go through with a fight at that point so we had to cut it.” (h/t Sportskeeda)
Whilst fans have missed out on a bad blood fight between Masvidal and Edwards, for the time being, at least, the door has potentially been opened for “Gamebred” to settle his feud with Covington, perhaps even following a season coaching The Ultimate Fighter.
Would you like to see Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington fight in 2022?
Continue Reading Masvidal’s Coach Confirms Covington’s Leaked Information at MMA News.