Jorge Masvidal unloads on Colby Covington, relishes Trump coming to watch him at UFC 244

NEW YORK – Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington used to be friends. Oh, how things have changed.

At UFC 244 media day ahead of Saturday’s bout against Nate Diaz, the American Top Team product Masvidal (34-13 MMA, 11-6 UFC) spit more than a few choice words at teammate Covington.

Masvidal indicated he felt used as a result of his past friendship with Covington. He outlined how different the day-to-day is at American Top Team since their fallout and explained how he goes about training at the same gym as his now-enemy.

“He sees me, security comes, coaches grab him, they put him away,” Masvidal told reporters Thursday. “They got me training in a separate room. He doesn’t say a word to me. I (expletive) with him all the time because I’m the type of guy that, if you say something right now, whenever I see you, I’m going to hold you to that.”

According to Masvidal, former interim champ Covington has been avoiding a confrontation at all costs. He alleged Covington doesn’t even eat at his places anymore because Masvidal has showed up there. “I’ve heard he’s going over to Uber Eats, you know?”

Masvidal said his intent isn’t to get physical with Covington outside of the cage. While he indicated an altercation on the streets would lean heavily in his favor, that’s not who he’s trying to be.

“That is my city, and I’m very polite to him. In the snap of a finger, I could have five cars packed to the teeth with individuals to make sure he never comes back,” Masvidal said. “I don’t want to do that. I want to handle it man to man. He won’t give me that. I just really want to talk to him and tell him, ‘What is your (expletive) problem?’”

From setting up interviews to providing food to letting him stay at his house, Masvidal listed off numerous instances in which Covington allegedly took advantage of his generosity – just to turn his back on him in the end.

“Why after I let you sleep on my couch?” Masvidal said. “You ate off my food. I helped you get on MMA Junkie. I helped you get Ariel Helwani, BJPenn.com. Why would you just tread on me for Facebook likes? Are you that much of a (expletive)? And I’m that much of an idiot. The mistake is on me because I (expletive) let him.”

It’s expected that Saturday night will be the first time a sitting U.S. president attends a UFC event. President Donald Trump is scheduled to be at Madison Square Garden for the fight between Masvidal and Diaz. “Gamebred,” whose support for Trump has been public in the past, finds humor that the Commander-In-Chief is coming to see him fight and not Covington.

“I think real recognize real,” Masvidal said. “No matter what your views are on Trump as a president, the guy’s a bad (expletive), man. The money that he’s made, the obstacles that he’s conquered. He’s a bad (expletive) in his own way. No matter what your political views are. Who’s he coming to see? It’s not that (expletive) with a MAGA hat talking about ‘Trump this, Trump that.’

“And (Covington) don’t know (expletive) about politics. I’m not going to sit here and talk about politics or act like I know about it, but I ain’t going to try to sell people that I know about politics. That (expletive) can’t even spell the nation’s capital. Inbred-ass retard.”

The universe has a way of making wrongs right, according to Masvidal. He believes a fight between him and Covington will happen, though he’s more interested in choosing the matchups that make business sense.

If people think his follow-up shots on Ben Askren were rough after the flying-knee knockout, Masvidal said viewers will want to turn away when and if the opportunity to fight Covington presents itself.

“The universe is going to correct that mistake via me,” Masvidal said. “Our time will come. I’ll dictate when. A lot of people said that what I did to Ben was a little uncalled for. Nah, it wasn’t. What I’m going to do to Colby is going to be uncalled for. I can put my life on that, man.”