Getty Jorge Masvidal looks on during his welterweight bout against Stephen Thompson during the UFC 217 event at Madison Square Garden on November 4, 2017 in New York City.
No. 1-ranked UFC welterweight Colby Covington appeared on the UFC 270 live weigh-in show on January 21, 2022. And during it, “Chaos” shared two potential fights that will be on the top of his list should he get past Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 on March 5, 2022.
Covington’s dream is to become an undisputed UFC world champion. So it’s not surprising that Covington said during the broadcast that he wants a trilogy match with welterweight king Kamaru Usman.
“The Nigerian Nightmare” and Chaos have fought twice with Usman coming out on top twice. He finished Covington via fifth-round TKO at UFC 245 in December 2019 and beat him by unanimous decision in November 2021 at UFC 268.
GettyColby Covington punches Kamaru Usman in their welterweight title bout during the UFC 268 event at Madison Square Garden on November 06, 2021 in New York City.
Their second fight in New York City was especially close, and Covington still maintains that he won the match. And if he defeats his rival “Gamebred” at UFC 272, he’ll campaign for another shot at Usman.
“It puts me right back in line to get another fight with Usman,” Covington said via MMA Junkie. “The people saw in Madison Square Garden and New York City what happened in that fight. I easily won three rounds. I think I won four rounds. The only round he clearly won was the second. I won the first, the third, the fourth and the fifth, so the people saw that. They want that fight again.
“There’s no one that’s on his level that can compete with him like I can, so this fight needs to happen again. There needs to be a trilogy because he hasn’t proved that he’s the better fighter. He hasn’t proved that he’s the best welterweight in the world, and there’s still unfinished business there. So I think after I finish Jorge Masvidal on March 5, it puts me right back in line to get my title shot.”
Masvidal Can Derail Covington’s Dream With a Victory
Now, of course, Masvidal has the chance to derail his enemy’s dream. Should Masvidal beat Covington, it’ll likely be a long road for Chaos to make his way back to Usman, considering he’s already lost twice to The Nigerian Nightmare. It’s virtually unheard of for a fighter to earn a title fight against a combatant who he’s 0-2 against.
That’s why Covington needs to defeat Gamebred and do so impressively to keep his hopes of a trilogy alive. A loss to Masvidal, who is ranked No. 6 at 170 pounds, would spell disaster for Covington, so he needs to avoid it at all costs.
And it’s clear that Masvidal would love nothing more than to take out Covington, someone who he used to consider a close friend, but now a bitter rival.
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Covington Wants to Fight Dustin Poirier If He Doesn’t Get the Usman Fight
GettyColby Covington and Dustin Poirier were teammates, but now they’re enemies.
If Chaos defeats Masvidal but the UFC doesn’t grant him his third crack at gold, he’ll settle with fighting No. 2-ranked lightweight Dustin Poirier. Poirier and Covington are former teammates and have an immense amount of bad blood.
“I think Louisiana swamp trash ‘Dustin Sorier,’” Covington said. “That’s a fight that needs to happen after this. That’s another personal grudge match. We’ve got a long history training together. He used to talk s*** saying it was on sight. He was going to the owner of American Top Team, and he was crying to him up in his feelings to this billionaire, ‘Oh, Colby’s so mean. He said some mean things about me in the media. Kick him out. Do something. Don’t let him train at our gym.’ So that fight needs to happen.
“He said to the media it’s on sight. I’m holding people accountable for all these fake news that they’re saying in the media.”
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Covington Has Only Lost 3 Times as a Professional Mixed Martial Artist
Covington is a former UFC interim welterweight champion, winning the belt in June 2018 when he bested ex-UFC 155-pound champion Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision.
Chaos boasts a professional MMA record of 16-3, with four wins by KO/TKO and four by submission. He holds notable victories over the likes of former UFC welterweight champions Tyron Woodley and Robbie Lawler, as well as multiple-time UFC title challenger Demian Maia.
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Jorge Masvidal Can Derail a UFC Fighter’s Dream