Colby Covington (17-3) and Jorge Masvidal (35-16) finally had their long-awaited grudge match in March at UFC 272 in Las Vegas. The whole week leading up to the fight, Colby and Jorge put on a display of pure hatred for one another during press conferences, media days, and any other exposure for the bout.
Many know of the story of Covington and Masvidal as brothers that turned into enemies. Covington and Masvidal were longtime training partners, friends, and roommates during their time together at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida. Since their falling out, there were questions as to whether or not their outward hatred for each other was purely for show, or if there was real substance behind the animosity between the two.
Those questions were firmly answered a few weeks after the main event bout at UFC 272, when it was reported that Masvidal sought out Covington in Miami and assaulted him outside of Papi Steakhouse. New audio has emerged from the night of March 21, 2022, revealing Covington’s immediate statement to Miami PD detectives.
Colby Covington Recounts the Assault
Thanks to Real World Police on Youtube, Covington’s complete statement was made public, and he provides a comprehensive account of what transpired that night:
“As soon as we’re about to walk across the street, I get sideswiped… I get punched in the mouth real quick and kinda get dizzied up, and I look up and I can see who it is. I can see in his eyes it’s Jorge Masvidal, I can see his hair coming out of his hoodie. But he has a face mask on, a surgical face mask. (And) he’s saying ‘you shouldn’t have f****** talked about my kids, you shouldn’t have f****** talked about my kids’. So I was easily able to identify like that’s his voice, that’s his eyes, that’s his hair, I know exactly who that is.”
Speaking on the injuries he sustained from the scuffle, Covington recounted:
“He chipped my front tooth and knocked it out. The adrenaline is still kinda going right now, but he definitely rocked me. I saw stars a little bit but I stayed on my feet, and I was just trying to get to safety, that’s all I was concerned about.”
Covington then continued to tell detectives about the well-known history between the two, stating:
“I lived with him for two years and we were training partners for 8 years. So we were very close friends, we literally trained together every single day, we were best friends.”
The new audio released by Real World Police on Youtube gives Covington’s complete, clear, and immediate reaction to the events on the night of March 21. After all the dust has settled, it is now apparent that the hatred between Covington and Masvidal is as real as it gets. In the fight game, many fighters sometimes put on an exaggerated performance of ‘rivalry’ with an opponent leading up to the event for marketing purposes.
MMA fans around the world were given a genuine rivalry between these two with real-world implications. Following the charges filed, Masvidal’s trial is set to begin on February 15th, and the MMA community anxiously awaits the results.
Listen to the complete audio of Colby Covington’s statement here: