Arguably the most anticipated UFC matchup of 2021 is the potential welterweight matchup between Colby Covington (16-2) and Jorge Masvidal (35-14). The former close friends who now have become bitter enemies.
Originally, the UFC was working on the Nate Diaz rematch for Jorge Masvidal a couple of months ago. However, the promotion switched gears after Colby Covington completely dominated Tyron Woodley.
Dana White came out and said that the UFC was working on Covington – Masvidal. Yet, here we are a couple of months later and no fight has been booked yet. It’s the logical fight to make, but nothing is even close to getting done.
Covington appeared on Submission Radio this week and said that he was approached with the fight two months ago. He said that he accepted, but they’ve heard radio silence from the Masvidal camp for two months.
As a result, he hasn’t heard any updates from the UFC since he originally accepted the fight. Covington made it very clear that he wants this fight and he believes that Masvidal is dodging him to avoid taking another loss.
“I’ve wanted this fight from day one. I’ve been on board since I finished Tyron Woodley. Street Judas Masvidal is ducking me. He had a lot to say before. Where is he now? He’s no where to be found. He’s the so called, ‘BMF’, I don’t even know what that means. That just means Broke and Mediocre Fighter,” Covington said.
UFC’s Grudge Match
From everything that’s been gathered, the UFC was trying to book the matchup for the first quarter of 2021. The likely month would have been February, but given Covington’s comments, it’s appearing unlikely.
There have been rumors of the two potential coaching The Ultimate Fighter. Covington said in the interview that he would be very interested in that opportunity if that is what the UFC wanted to do.
It’s worth noting that Masvidal just signed a new contract before his title fight with Kamaru Usman so you can’t imagine it’s a money thing. We don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, but we do know that the fight hasn’t been booked yet.
I think this situation is going to get resolved sooner than later. It’s a massive fight for the UFC to put together and it’s the perfect title eliminator for the welterweight division.