Welterweight Colby “Chaos” Covington (16-3-0) clashes with his former American Top Team teammate, Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal (35-15-0).
This will be Covington’s first fight since another unsuccessful attempt to unseat Kamaru Usman for the division’s title back in November.
Covington lost the first bout against Usman with under a minute left in the fight, as a result of what was later revealed to be a broken jaw. All around the world, people rejoiced that Usman was able to shut Covington’s mouth, albeit for a short time. Leading up to the fight, Covington had the audacity to say that Usman’s longtime coach, Glenn Robinson, was watching the fight from hell. Robinson passed away in 2018 from a heart attack, which Covington claims was the result of Usamn ducking him multiple times in recent years.
In the November rematch, Covington fought hard, but lost via unanimous decision.
Covington’s last UFC fight not to reach the final round was a submission loss to Warley Alves at UFC 194 in December 2015.
After beating “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler at UFC on ESPN 5 in August of 2019, Covington mocked Lawler’s close friend Matt Hughes, the former UFC welterweight champion. Hughes was struck on the passenger side of a friend’s truck after the vehicle was hit by an oncoming train.
“You stay off the tracks when the train is coming through, junior. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Trump train or the Colby train, get out of the way!"
The thing with Covington is that he claims to be the “Super Villain of the UFC” with his comments and actions. He burned every bridge with ATT on his way out the door in 2020. He claimed he was sent flirtatious messages from former UFC Women’s Strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Colby Covington is a Trump-loving piece of shit.
When he won the interim welterweight crown, he stated to Joe Rogan that he wanted to visit Trump in the White House, which he did nine months later. The “Traitor In Chief” called Covington after his victory over Tyron Woodley in September of 2020.
In fact, the interim title is the only thing of note Covington has ever captured in his UFC career. He has only one post-fight bonus, which was the first loss to Usman.
There is a fine line between wanting to be Chael Sonnen or Jon Jones with how the envelope is pushed, or stepping from the shadows and taking your place in the spotlight. Every time Covington has been given the opportunity, he comes up short, much like the two inches in reach he is giving up to Masvidal on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Not to be outdone, the card also features former NFL defensive lineman Greg Hardy (7-4-0). If you remember, Hardy was essentially black-listed from the NFL after a 2014 domestic violence conviction where he assaulted and made death threats towards an ex-girlfriend. Despite being convicted and sentenced to 18 months probation, Hardy appealed the decision, requesting a jury trial. The conviction was overturned when the victim refused to appear in court to provide her testimony.
Days after the conviction was expunged, photographs came out showing the victim’s injuries taken by medical examiners.
Hardy, by the way, is also a supporter of the former “Treason in Chief.”
So in a way, this card can be labeled as perfect for those without a moral compass. You have a staunch supporter of the greatest threat to American democracy in history main-eventing a card with a convicted woman batterer.
Hardy is much more likely to lose his bout than Covington, as the latter is the top contender towards another shot at Usman’s title. At least with a third loss he would not have the same level of platform to try and get himself over.
How fitting would that be, considering who he idolizes himself after?
-JC24