Getty Colby Covington (top) looks to the referee during his welterweight fight with Jorge Masvidal during UFC 272 on March 5, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
No. 1-ranked UFC welterweight Colby Covington finally broke his silence on social media, nearly a week after his incident with Jorge Masvidal.
Covington has accused Masvidal of punching him in the face twice at the Papi Steak restaurant in Miami Beach, Florida, on March 21, fracturing his tooth, causing a wrist abrasion and damaging his Rolex.
TMZ obtained a video of Covington and Masvidal outside of the restaurant in a heated verbal exchange before Gamebred left in a vehicle. On March 23, Masvidal was arrested and charged with two felonies: aggravated battery with a mask causing great bodily harm and criminal mischief, per Miami-Dade County Corrections records.
WPLG Local 10 News shared a clip of Masvidal being escorted into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Florida. He was held on $15,000 bond and was released a few hours later, according to jail records.
Exclusive @GamebredFighter headed to jail on an aggravated battery charge after his alleged attack on @ColbyCovMMA Exclusive video and story on @WPLGLocal10
Covington had remained silent on social media until March 27, six days after the altercation. Chaos didn’t reference his allegations against Masvidal. Instead, he shared a photo of himself with a “King of Miami” championship belt on his shoulder alongside the Nelk Boys, who he filmed a podcast with prior to the Papi Steak incident. “Had a great time on @fullsendpodcast,” Chaos wrote.
Bob Menery: ‘All I Can Say Is I’m Extremely Disappointed’ in Masvidal
The podcast was filmed before the March 21 incident, so there is no discussion about it on the “Full Send” episode. However, some of the group was at Papi Steak when the incident went down.
InstagramColby Covington was featured in the Nelk Boy’s Instagram Story on March 21 at Papi Steak in Miami Beach, Florida.
“Full Send” host Bob Menery was hanging out with “Chaos” and he took to Twitter that night, condemning Masvidal. “All i can say is I’m extremely disappointed in @GamebredFighter as a professional fighter tonight,” he tweeted. “You let down alot of people tonight bro. Disappointed.”
“Never had a problem with @GamebredFighter,” Menery continued. “Extremely disappointed in the way he decided to handle his ongoing ‘beef’ that has already been decided in a regulated platform.”
Covington and Masvidal fought inside the Octagon earlier in March at UFC 272. The former best friends turned enemies competed for all five rounds and Covington earned a convincing unanimous decision over Gamebred.
After that, Covington continued to troll Masvidal via Instagram, sharing several posts of himself hitting Masvidal with captions like: “At least you tried…,” “50-44 and a soda” and “Easy Money for The King of Miami.”
Covington Referenced the ‘King of Miami’ Belt a Few Weeks Ago
During a recent interview with Submission Radio on March 16, Chaos alluded to having a “King of Miami” belt on the way.
“I might have got sent a belt. It’s title season over here boys. It was a big fight for Miami. You guys got to tune in you know,” Covington said. “This was something bigger. It was the King of Miami title fight, it was the big one. Stay tuned for the coronation. I promise you. There’s pics to follow this weekend, it’s going to be a great celebration in history. … Yeah, it’s gotta be a part of fight week.
“It’s an important part of fight week. It’s the most prestigious title in the UFC today. To retain that belt, whoever gets to hold that belt, its the biggest piece of 20 pounds of gold that you’ve ever seen. It’s just a beautiful immaculate piece. So the fact that you even get to fight for it, is the biggest honor and the biggest moment you’re ever going to get in your entire life.”