Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington were once firm friends, but today call one another sworn enemies. This, however, does not mean that either fighter is familiar enough with the other to guarantee victory, at least according to Chael Sonnen. Sonnen, in a recent video posted to his YouTube channel, pointed out that the rivals’ friendship far predated their success in the UFC.
“Those guys do not know each other whether they think they do or not. Teammates, workout partners, cornering each other, roommates, has nothing to do with it for two reasons. They were different weight classes.
Chael Sonnen on Masvidal vs Covington Grudge Match: “Those guys do not know each other!”
Whatever you think you know about a guy’s strength or his speed or the positions you’re able to give his problems in, it doesn’t matter when they change weight classes.”
Chael Sonnen also pointed out that neither fighter was even close to their prime at the time. Jorge Masvidal was, for a long time, considered something of a journeyman, languishing on prelim cards and never quite making it to the UFC elite.
Colby Covington, meanwhile, has made much of the fact that he was, at one point, one fight away from losing his UFC contract. Masvidal’s infamous knockouts of Darren Till and Ben Askren made him a superstar, while Colby Covington took a heel turn and made himself the UFC’s in-house Trump-loving villain.
Their star power, and their fighting ability, has progressed so much since then that there’s no predicting how the fight will go. “Secondly, neither one of them was main-event quality when they were training. They were both up-and-comers.
Masvidal wasn’t Masvidal until three years ago. Masvidal wasn’t Masvidal until he hit a flying knee which parlayed him right into Madison Square Garden and a championship.
Colby Covington was in an even worse spot when they trained together. He was an up-and-comer with a lot of promise, but he was nowhere (close to) closing out the night.”
Whether they know each other or not today, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal will meet in the Octagon for the first time at UFC 272. The grudge match has serious implications for the welterweight title conversation, as the division is currently ruled by the seemingly invincible Kamaru Usman.
Both Covington and Masvidal have as their most recent fight losses to Usman. In fact, both men’s most recent fight was their second loss to the champ. It’s possible that the winner at UFC 272 will act as “gatekeeper” to the next serious title challenger, and offer a chance at welterweight redemption against the Nigerian Nightmare.
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