Colby Covington Beats Jorge Masvidal In UFC 272 Main Event

Colby Covington defeated former friend, turned bitter rival, Jorge Masvidal in the main event of UFC 272, dominating for much of the five rounds.

The two men had exchanged harsh words in the build up to the fight, as years of hatred finally led them to being face to face in the octagon.

Covington was able to dominate for much of the 25 minute fight, due to his ground and pound game, though Masvidal had the better of their exchanges on their feet, especially late in the fourth round.

In the end though it was 'Chaos' who won by a unanimous points decision, 49-46, 50-44, 50-45, taking his record to 17-3, having only ever lost to Warlley Alves and Kamaru Usman.

Covington and Masvidal had been teammates in the American Top Team camp in Florida for years, even living together at one point in 2013, sparring in their apartment.

Over recent years though the relationship fell apart, leading to a huge rivalry that culminated in Saturday's main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Ahead of the fight, UFC president Dana White had to hire added security at the press conference, just to make sure things didn't kick off.

It was easy to see why as the hatred spilled out in the octagon right from the beginning of their fight, with Masvidal no doubt hoping to end things as early as he famously did against Ben Askren in 2019, and came out flying with an attempted high kick.

Gamebred landed some good leg kicks early on before Covington went for the first takedown, with the Florida native complaining of an eye poke as he defended it, which referee Herb Dean missed.

Covington did eventually get his rival to the ground, as he attempted to take his back and earn a first round submission, beating Masvidal from behind.

The BMF title holder manager to get to his feet with about 30 seconds of the round to go and the pair traded shots just before the hooter ended the first five minutes.

Covington was warned ahead of round two for the eye poke, and Chaos then came out with his own attempted high kick early on but slipped.

Masvidal then landed a couple of his own good kicks, first to the leg and then one to the body, before Covington once again went for a takedown, that was defended well against the side of the cage and Colby landed a low blow.

Both men were able to land some decent shots and were clearly willing to take one to give one back, with Covington again having some success on the ground before Masvidal got to his feet.

Covington secured a much easier takedown in the first minute of the third round and began aiming some big elbows after taking full guard.

With just over a minute of the round left, Covington looked to take the back of his opponent, with Masvidal momentarily looking to escape, but finding himself back under pressure within seconds. He was allowed to his feet with seconds remaining and threw a big hayemaker with his left, but the round was clearly not his.

The fourth round continued in similar fashion, with Covington putting pressure on Masvidal on the fence, trying to force another takedown.

It failed but the 34-year-old landed some great shots on the inside, and looked to be in the ascendancy, and like he might be ending it.

However, with just over a minute to go, Masvidal landed a huge shot which left his opponent on one knee, though he got straight back up, with the 37-year-old then landing a couple more times, but not enough to make it count.

Covington made his rival pay at the start of the fifth round, shooting a very early takedown by grabbing his opponent's leg and instantly getting a dominant position behind Masvidal on the ground, only for Gamebred to battle back to his feet momentarily.

At the end of the fight, security came straight into the octagon to make sure the two men remained separated, as the pair exchanged insults from across the cage.

The result by that point was unquestionable though, as Covington was clearly the winner.