There’s more on the line at UFC 272 than just a fight. When former “best friends”, now sworn enemies, Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington, step into the Octagon, there’s a very personal side to the story. Masvidal, apart from his ongoing public feud with Covington, wants to put a stop to the villainous MAGA heel persona on which Colby built his career.
On The MMA Hour, Masvidal claimed that he doesn’t want a younger generation of fighters growing up thinking that Colby’s antics are OK.
Jorge Masvidal Hates Colby Covington’s Heel Persona: “We’ve Got to Crush It”
“[Covington] has to talk about people’s wives. Like, how f*cking low of a society have we gotten, that’s even acceptable? You’re talking about people’s wives for no reason? Talking about Amanda Nunes’ team?
In doing that, he inspires the future generations. So some 12-year-old may be looking at him, thinking, ‘Oh, this is the way to go, to insult a whole nation to get yourself over,’ because you weren’t selling pay-per-views, because you can’t fight, so you have to insult a whole country now.”
Colby Covington’s resurgence in the UFC, going from the brink of getting cut to fighting for the welterweight title twice, came largely on the back of controversial comments he made in Brazil. Covington adopted a Trump-loving public persona, often appearing in MAGA merchandise and declaring many of his fights critical battles in the culture wars – such as his bout against Tyron Woodley, a vocal BLM supporter.
Jorge Masvidal just doesn’t get it. “It just doesn’t make sense to me. We’re already going to fight as men. We’re going to give it all we have to each other.
We don’t have to talk about things like children, women, religion, people’s countries. To make jokes, I think it’s cool to get under somebody’s skin. But to go to that level of disrespect, it’s not… and what’s even worse is that it might inspire future generations to do it. And that I won’t stand for.
We’ve got to crush it.” Masvidal also pointed out that Colby had to start talking trash because his own fighting style was so boring. Covington’s wrestling-based style failed to earn him many fans, not unlike that of an elder fighter: Chael Sonnen.
“It’s kind of like the Chael Sonnen thing. Chael had to be so sh*t-talking because he didn’t have an exciting style for a long time; he was just wrestling guys to death. So he had to do that extra talking and get himself over like that.
That influenced guys like Colby. That’s all he does. Do you think Colby Covington’s heel antics have a place in MMA? Let us know in the comments.
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