COLBY COVINGTON PRODUCED possibly the biggest win of his career with a unanimous defeat of former best friend Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 in Las Vegas.
The brash American was true to his word in the build up to the clash, exhilarating the crowd with a dominant display that led to the judges scoring in the No.1 welterweight’s favour – 49-46, 50-45, 50-44.
No sooner had Covington’s hand been raised than he was already turning his attention to his next challenge.
“I just took out Miami’s street trash, now it’s time to take on Louisiana swamp trash, where you at Dustin Poirier? You’re next!” he roared after the fight.
“It wasn’t my best performance,” he added in the post-fight news conference. “Just a lot of emotions going into it. That was a real friend of mine at one point in my career. … I let my emotions get the best of me. But it was still dominant. I showed the world how good I was.”
For Masvidal, the veteran was left ruing the effects of the passing of time on his inability to perform how he would have liked.
“I was off beat with the wrestling. [The game plan was] to break his face. I should have had more moments like that but the wrestling was off today. [I was] flat footed today.”
Covington’s wrestling masterclass was the difference, and the 34-year-old showed his intent inside the opening five minutes of their gruelling five-round scrap.
Masvidal was taken down and forced to scramble and, despite being the superior striker, he was unable to fully deal with the pressure he was being put under.
Covington landed another takedown in the third, pinning Masvidal to the mat until the final 10 seconds when the 37-year-old was eventually able to get back on his feet and inject fresh life into the fight.
The Miami native’s never-say-die attitude was on show in the fourth, dropping Covington to his knee with a right hook, yet it was the latter who remerged for the fifth re-energised, once again taking Masvidal to the canvas and keeping him there to see out the victory.
