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Fierce rivals Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal are known to have been best friends at one point in their careers. The duo used to share the same training facility, i.e. the American Top Team gym in Florida.
They were much more than just training partners, having lived together for an extended period of time.
However, being signed to the same promotion and fighting in the same weight class meant the competition between the welterweight duo eventually got to them. Leading up to Masvidal's rematch against Kamaru Usman at UFC 261 last year, Covington revealed the reason behind their feud.
According to 'Chaos', his victory over Rafael dos Anjos was the starting point of their rift. Apparently, 'Gamebred' wasn't too happy seeing his training partner rise above him in the ranks at 170 lbs.
The former interim welterweight champion said:
"It was 3 years ago or 2 and half years ago when I was in the locker room and I'd just beat Rafael dos Anjos for the interim title and the President had called me that day. I think he [Masvidal] saw all the hype I was generating and he didn't like that. He has a big ego and he couldn't put his ego aside for the friendship. He didn't like that I was getting the spotlight more and I was rising above him in the ranks."
Watch Colby Covington talk about his rivalry with Jorge Masvidal below:
Jorge Masvidal vs. Colby Covington to headline UFC 272
After years of going back and forth with one another, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal will finally let their fists do the talking on March 5th at UFC 272.
The event was initially built around two title fights, with Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway 3 and Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan 2 initially slated to feature on the fight card. However, both championship fights have now been postponed and fans will be treated to a welterweight grudge match between Masvidal and Covington.
Masvidal is coming off consecutive losses to UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Covington also suffered a loss in his last outing, which also came against the reigning champion. Both fighters are keen to get back to winning ways and secure a third shot at the title.
