One of the more anticipated UFC matchups of 2021 is the proposed welterweight contest between Jorge Masvidal (35-14) and Colby Covington (16-2). The two former best friends are now bitter enemies.
The UFC has been trying to make this fight for the last couple of months. However, getting the fight booked is a lot easier said than done. Last week, Covington told Submission Radio that Masvidal was the reason for the fight being delayed.Â
There has been no word from the Masvidal camp on the delay. All we know is that the UFC has been working on the fight and Dana White said just last week that it was the fight to make in that division.
Jorge Masvidal did take to Twitter with an interesting statement a few days ago. He tweeted to the American Airlines Arena asking for them to allow an event with a full crowd in attendance. Masvidal pointed to the state of Florida being opened up as his reasoning.
This tweet did get me thinking of the possibility. Florida was the first state to welcome in the UFC when the pandemic shut things down. UFC 249 and the first couple of events took place in Jacksonville with the state allowing the promotion to host the events.
Florida is also one of the states that is pushing to get things back to normal. It would be fitting to see Florida be the first state to welcome back a full UFC crowd. And there wouldn’t be a better fight to make it happen.
Hurdles for the UFC
Having the first UFC event back with fans in Miami with Masvidal and Covington headlining would be a dream for the promotion. The fight would do extremely well and they could sell it as, “Who is the king of Miami?”
However, there are many hurdles. Dana White has said that he will not have crowds back until he’s allowed to have a fully packed venue. We’ve seen boxing matches so far and other sporting events have limited attendance.
White is not a fan of that. For the UFC, he either wants it to be completely sold out or no one there at all. My guess is that Florida would be willing to do it, but it would require a lot more than just the state signing off.
The arena, other fighters, and other personnel would have to sign off on the UFC hosting that kind of event. With all of the hurdles, I’m not sure it’s likely to happen. At least not anytime soon.
However, I do believe that this would be the perfect fight and the perfect location for the UFC to welcome back a full crowd to US events. Time will tell if it could become a reality, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind.