Jorge Masvidal wouldn’t think twice if he was given a shot at UFC gold before his teammate Colby Covington, who has already been deemed next for champ Kamaru Usman.
Jorge Masvidal would have no issue fighting for the UFC welterweight title before his teammate and friend Colby Covington.
With his knockout win over Darren Till on Saturday in the UFC London main event, Masvidal is the closest he has ever been to fighting for the 170-pound title. Till was No. 3 in the division going into the bout, while Masvidal was No. 11.
Masvidal, however, trains with Covington, whom UFC president Dana White has already deemed next for new champ Kamaru Usman, at American Top Team in south Florida. That could make things interesting, but Masvidal said if offered to him, he would jump at the opportunity to fight for UFC gold — even before Covington gets his deserved shot.
“Over everything, over friendships or anything, is my kids — and obviously fighting for that belt is my kids’ future,” Masvidal told ESPN after his win over Till. “It doesn’t sound too nice, but if my mom had the belt, she better give it up because my kids gotta eat. If I’m willing to fight my mom, imagine a good friend. That’s no disrespect to Colby. He’s done great things in the sport and he’s still young, so he’s going to do many great things. But if they offer me a title shot, damn right I’m taking it.”
Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz said after UFC London that he believes Masvidal, not Covington, deserves the next 170-pound title shot — a sentiment that Masvidal agrees with.
“My body of work speaks for itself,” Masvidal said. … “I think it’s only right I’m fighting for the title.”
It should be noted that Abdelaziz called for Ben Askren to fight Usman for the title following UFC 235. In response to Abdelaziz’s mention of “Funky,” Covington told Bloody Elbow that he wasn’t worried about what Abdelaziz had to say.
Usman beat Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title at UFC 235 in Las Vegas. During the fourth-round of the title fight, White told Covington that he would be getting the winner of the bout, according to Covington.
When reached for comment, Covington said he is only thinking about his impending bout against Usman. He said he is “not in the least bit” concerned about Masvidal’s title hopes.
“Not much to talk about,” Covington told Bloody Elbow via text. “I’m only focused on Marty Snoozeman right now. I’m happy for Jorge, coach Mike Brown and also Dan Lambert and American Top Team. But we found out how over-hyped Darrel the Doughboy really was.”
With the victory over Till, Masvidal returned to the winning column after a two-fight skid dating back to May 2017. He hadn’t won since a January 2017 TKO of Donald Cerrone.