LAS VEGAS — The UFC’s first big feud, a light heavyweight rivalry between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, produced its first million-selling pay-per-view card. There have been many of those since — both feuds and million-selling pay-per-view cards — but few rivalries in the UFC have felt as authentic as the latest one.
Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal were not only teammates at American Top Team, they were, as each of them said on numerous occasions, best friends. If you saw one, you usually saw both.
They were inseparable until they were not.
Now, they are two of the best welterweight fighters in the world with little to prove to anyone except, surprisingly, each other. Covington knows what Masvidal can do, and vice versa, but doing it against someone else is different. It’s become personal.
Covington has edged to stardom by making things personal, using a pro wrestling shtick and playing a character of a bad guy to attract attention. It’s clearly worked and he’s one of the most recognized fighters in the sport.
On Saturday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN+ PPV), he’ll face his one-time best friend in the main event of UFC 272 at a sold-out T-Mobile Arena.
Asked what it would be like to lose to someone he once cared for so much and now despises equally as much, Covington didn’t even want to hear of it.
When pushed, the UFC’s most loquacious fighter was at a loss.
“I can’t even allow myself to imagine that,” he said of a loss to Masvidal.
Covington is one of the best fighters in the world, No. 10 on the latest Yahoo Sports pound-for-pound list and No. 1 in the UFC’s welterweight division, but he’s as good talking on a mic as he is fighting in the cage.
He was a roommate of former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones when both were at Iowa Central Community College, and has since turned on Jones. When Jones announced recently on social media that his fiancé, Jessie Moses, had left him and wasn’t coming back, Covington was quick with a response.
“Tremendous news,” Covington wrote on Twitter. “Guess you finally knocked some sense into her.”
Jones was once his most frequent target, but that’s changed to Masvidal these days. He refers to Masvidal as “Street Judas,” and when confronted why he doesn’t get along with people, he didn’t back down.
He teed off on both Jones and Masvidal.
“There’s a common things with both those guys,” Covington told Yahoo Sports. “You’re talking about two scumbags. Criminals. Who’d want to get along with those guys? Those guys are dirt bags. They cheat on their wives, they beat on their wives, they cheat on their taxes. They don’t do anything by the law, and I’m a big believer in law and order. Of course I don’t agree with those guys.”
The one thing both of them agree about is it’s going to be intense. Masvidal has promised all sorts of peril and said Covington may not make it out of the cage on his own.
Covington understands full well what happens when you poke the bear too much. He took on his new persona in Brazil when he fought Warley Alves, and referred to the Brazilian fans afterward as “filthy animals” among other less-than-flattering terms.
He let welterweight champion Kamaru Usman have it repeatedly, but the two fought twice in a pair of sensational fights that Usman won. The respect Covington has gained for Usman is evident. During his interview with Yahoo Sports, he referred to Usman by his name and never as “Marty Fakenewsman” like he’d do so often in the past.
But he hasn’t let up on Masvidal and he knows that Masvidal will be primed like he’s never been previously.
“I think Jorge is going to be hungrier for this fight than he’s ever been in the history of his career,” Covington said.
Covington is an elite MMA wrestler and his cardio has been among the best in the sport. He rides those two skills to victory after victory and they’ve made him one of the sport’s elites.
He concedes Masvidal is explosive, but doesn’t feel unduly threatened. He said Masvidal will gas out and take a beating.
“He’s got some fast-twitch muscle fibers and he’s able to explode at any moment,” Covington said. “But he’s a two-pump chump, just like his ex-wife used to tell me. He can’t last with me in that Octagon. I’m going to make him quit in front of the world. It’s going to be the same thing that happened every time we fought behind closed doors. The only difference now is it’s going to be on pay-per-view in front of a live audience. It’s a beautiful thing. I can’t wait.”