Daniel Cormier feels the upcoming fight between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal will be a close one.
There is an exciting welterweight fight looming. Former title challengers Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal have agreed to meet in the main event of UFC 272. That fight is interesting on many levels: because of the history between these two, because they both last lost to the champ, and because it is a nontitle fight headliner. One man who believes that this fight might be closer than some people think is Daniel Cormier.
“I think stylistically for Colby Covington, this is a great fight, yes, because he feels like he can go and ground Jorge Masvidal,” Cormier said on a recent episode of the DC & RC podcast (via Sportskeeda).
“A lot of people from within the sport of mixed martial arts think that it’s going to look like Robbie Lawler vs. Colby Covington, where Colby is just trying to overwhelm him with this pressure, but what you don’t understand is the improvements that Jorge Masvidal has made in wrestling and his ability to counter a lot of the things that Covington may have been able to do to him in the past years.
“The guy is a much better fighter today and he’s a much better fighter because of his interactions with Kamaru Usman, even though he lost those fights, he got better preparing for the champion.”
Since Covington and Masvidal are both coming off losses to Kamaru Usman, this fight could be a path back to the title. Both men are still at the top of their game, and if Usman were to lose his next fight, the winner of this UFC 272 main event could very well receive another title opportunity.
With that being said, Covington and Masvidal know each other well. Some people think this will be beneficial to them. They used to be friends and roommates back in their college days.
A lot has changed since these two had a falling out. Both have improved greatly in their fighting skills. Masvidal has only lost to the champion in the last three years. The same goes for Covington, who has only lost to Usman in the last five years.
Cormier is a former champion turned analyst. He now makes his living picking apart fights and making his opinions known. As a former Olympic wrestler, he thinks the ground game will play a big role in this bout.
Who do you think will win Colby Covington or Jorge Masvidal?
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