Colby Covington beats Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 via unanimous decision in grudge match

The long-awaited UFC welterweight bout between former best friends, teammates, and training partners Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal headlined the UFC 272 pay-per-view, held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night, local time. Coming on the back of his loss against welterweight champion Kumaru Usman in September 2021, Covington dominated Masvidal in the main event of UFC 272. Covington displayed his wrestling, pressure, and striking to attack Masvidal, as both fighters didn’t look like stopping even after the end of five rounds. 

However, Covington was visibly ahead of his counterpart in the bout and was able to wear down Masvidal by a 49-46, 50-44, 50-45, unanimous decision win. Masvidal looked strong, particularly in the second round, and was able to drop Covington in the fourth. However, Covington had control for the majority of the fight and stuck out his tongue and Masvidal after the end of 25 minutes. 

While Covington called out Dustin Poirier as his next opponent after winning the main event of UFC 272, Masvidal in his post-fight interview admitted that it wasn’t his day. UFC fans were waiting for the match for a long time as both fighters have had a long history of friendship and rivalry with each other. Their friendship kicked off in 2011 after Covington joined the American Top Team. 

History of Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal's rivalry

Covington’s wrestling background and Masvidal’s striking experience made both a perfect pair of training partners, while both also cornered one another during their UFC fights. As time passed, Masvidal and Covington became the big names of the division before rivalry and feuds kicked in. Since then, Covington claims Masvidal got jealous of his rise in MMA and ended up stabbing him in the back. At the same time, Masvidal says Covington had payment issues with coach Paulino Hernandez, however, the latter denies it. The main event of UFC 272 wasn’t about a title or rankings as it was all about settling scores between two friends, who turned foes.

UFC 272: Main-card winners

• Colby Covington defeated Jorge Masvidal by a unanimous decision
• Rafael Dos Anjos defeated Renato Moicano via unanimous decision
• Bryce Mitchell defeated Edson Barboza by a unanimous decision
• Kevin Holland defeated Alex Oliveira by a TKO in round two
• Serghei Spivac defeated Greg Hardy by a TKO in round one 

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