Just like Kamaru Usman, Marcos DaMatta thinks both Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington are underestimating each other.
A longtime jiu-jitsu coach for American Top Team, DaMatta has seen both Masvidal (35-15 MMA, 12-8 UFC) and Covington (16-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) grow as fighters throughout the years, but thinks neither is giving the other credit for his overall skills.
The former best friends, now foes will settle their difference in Saturday’s UFC 272 main event, and “Parrumpa” sees an all-out battle between the two.
“It’s not going to be an easy fight for either one of them,” DaMatta told MMA Junkie. “It’s going to be a five-rounder, I believe. The fight will go five rounds. I believe Masvidal will win three of those five. But again, it’s a 50-50 chance. It’s a coin toss. I think it’s very easy to see that Colby can win three rounds, as well.
“I believe Masvidal is ready for this – as ready as he can be. He did a lot of wrestling defense (and) wrestling training with Bo Nickal, who is probably one of the top three in the country right now. I’m sure Colby also trained with a lot of good strikers at his gym. I believe in Masvidal. Masvidal is going to win.”
UFC welterweight champion Usman, who has beaten both Masvidal and Covington twice, was surprised with Masvidal’s wrestling as well as Covington’s striking, and DaMatta agrees with his analogy.
“Colby will be surprised how hard it is to take Masvidal down and keep him down,” DaMatta said. “At the same time, Masvidal is going to be very surprised how good Colby’s striking is. So it’s kind of an even surprise for each one of them. Being a five-rounder and the way that Colby fights, obviously we have to give a little bit of an advantage to Colby in that department. But for the first time in a long time, I saw Masvidal really dedicating himself a lot for this fight.
“He was not too heavy. He was actually in good shape, which to me and everyone who knows Masvidal is very surprising. He feels good. He’s in good spirits. He’s that kind of a fighter where he’s not going to bring emotions to the cage. Everything is going to be shut down when they close the doors and he’s going to focus on the task at hand and try to put out Colby.”
Covington’s rift with many of his American Top Team teammates eventually led to his departure. But “Parrumpa” admits that Covington has been nothing but polite to him during his time at the gym and thinks he’s just putting up a front for the cameras.
“I never had a problem with Colby,” DaMatta said. “As a matter of fact, he always treated me well. He was very respectful to me in all the circumstances. Even when he was coming to my grappling classes, he was always very respectful. ‘Hey coach, may I join in?’ He was always very, very respectful with me. At the gym, I’ve seen him treating the people that work at the gym very politely. He was never a guy that was an a**hole all around. I believe that was created to create the Colby Covington that we see nowadays. So as far as his relationship with me, we never had a problem.”
https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2022/03/jorge-masvidal-vs-colby-covington-ufc-272-coach-picks-masvidal-coin-toss