Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal face off on Saturday in the main event of UFC 272 in a welterweight showdown at the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas Nevada. Colby Covington is currently the number one ranked challenger in the division while Masvidal is ranked sixth.
At one time these two guys were friends and teammates, but there is no a lot of bad blood between the two, and this could be the fight of the year.
Colby Covington comes into this fight with a 16-3 record overall but he has lost two of his last three fights. Each of those two losses came against Kamara Usman. In the last fight against Usman he was competitive, but he lost the fight by unanimous decision. Two fights ago came against Tyron Woodley, Covington was dominant and early in the fifth round he was able to win by knockout. Covington is averaging 4.14 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.09 significant strikes per minute. Covington is a wrestler first and he is averaging 4.10 takedowns every 15 minutes. He is successful on 46 percent of his takedown attempts and he stops 72 percent of his opponents takedown attempts.
On the other side of this matchup is Jorge Masvidal who sits with a 35-15 record overall but he has lost two fights in a row and each of those came against Kamara Usman. The last win for Masvidal came in November of 2019 against Nate Diaz and that was by knockout. In the last fight against Usman, Masvidal lost by knockout. Masvidal is averaging 4.22 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.01 significant strikes per minute. Masvidal is averaging 1.54 takedowns every 15 minutes and he is successful on 59 percent of his attempts. Masvidal is also stopping 75 percent of his opponent's takedown attempts.
This fight comes down to where it’s fought at. If it stays on the feet Masvidal has a big advantage, but if the fight goes to the floor, that’s where Covington can find success. Covington is often overlooked for his knockout power, and he is going to get the fight to the ground and dominate it. As the fight goes on, Masvidal is going to be worn down, and Covington will finish the fight by knockout.