UFC 272: Covington vs Masvidal - Mar 5 🇺🇸

[David]

The BT Sports replay bleeped out much of Colby's post-fight interview. Did he challenge Dustin Poirier?

[RancidPunx]

1 hour ago, David said:

The BT Sports replay bleeped out much of Colby's post-fight interview. Did he challenge Dustin Poirier?

Yeah, said that Dustin’s kid was Conor’s too !!

[wandshogun09]

[David]

17 hours ago, RancidPunx said:

Yeah, said that Dustin’s kid was Conor’s too !!

Fuck sake. 

[WeeAl]

This was a pretty lacklustre show, all in all. Holland Vs Cowboy Oliveira was the best fight on the main card. My favourite parts of the PPV was RDA having a strong showing (to be expected in the circumstances, but I'm glad he looked good all the same) and Greg Hardy getting manhandled. That's always a delight, even if Spivak himself is nothing to get excited about. 

Marina Rodriguez fight on the prelims was pretty tidy too. 

The top two fights though were expected to go a certain way, and in practice may have even been more one sided than we thought they might be. It was quite clear from the end of round two in both fights, who was going to win, and for the most part, how. 

Onto the next one. I get what Colby is doing with the Dustin call out, however I'm not fussed on that. I'd have rather he called out McGregor if he was going that angle and those pair of dickheads beat the shit out of each other instead (not that McGregor would have any interest in it). 

As for RDA, there are a tonne of fights I'd like to see for him next. Easiest solution is probably just move onto the fight that was supposed to happen and go with Fiziev. As well as that, RDA Vs Gregor Gillespie sounds tasty as fuck. 

 

[David]

20 minutes ago, WeeAl said:

As for RDA, there are a tonne of fights I'd like to see for him next.

I think he's angling for the McG fight that never was. A decent enough bout at this stage for both of them, although I think Conor is getting a crack at the winner of Oliveira and Gaethje.

[Egg Shen]

There's better options out there for McGregor at this point than RDA. As much as i'd love to see RDA get that fight, I think there's very little chance of it happening.

The main event was predictable on Saturday night and aside from spots was a bit underwhelming. Problem is, as much as Colby talks shit, he's all business in the cage, he doesn't let emotions or the fans booing make him switch up his game. He's just super efficient without ever really threatening to end a fight. 

 

[wandshogun09]

Main event was about as everyone expected. I’ve made no secret that I’m not a fan of either so I wasn’t that bothered who won. But I must admit, as fight night arrived I was leaning towards hoping Masvidal would somehow knock him out.

That’s as close as he got though. And aside from that, he had no real success at all. Covington’s got to be a nightmare to fight because he’s just constantly there and he never gets tired. I’d rather get knocked out. Wasn’t much of a fight to watch though. Baffled me that it got FOTN, to be honest. Yeah it wasn’t a card full of bangers but there were definitely a few fights more worthy of the $50K. Not a lot else to say about the fight really. As one sided and flat as I found it, I’m glad it happened. It needed to after all the talk back and forth. It never matched the hype but I never really expected it to. Basically the 2022 version of Rampage Jackson vs Rashad Evans in that sense.

Not in love with the idea of Covington vs Poirier at all. The story is pretty much the same as Covington vs Masvidal with the former teammates thing, Colby vs ATT etc. Except shitter because they weren’t as close friends as Colby and Masvidal. And while I do think the beef here was genuine, I think the Poirier thing would be just Covington forcing it. Plus I’d rather see Covington against a proper Welterweight than Poirier coming up in weight for him.

Chuffed to see RDA get the win in such convincing fashion. Seen a lot of downplaying this win. I’m guessing that’s mostly because Moicano took it on short notice. But it wasn’t like he rolled off the sofa, he literally just fought at 271 a few weeks ago. He’ll have still been sharp from that camp. Plus it’s worth remembering that RDA had been training for a striker in Fiziev and was now faced with more of a BJJ guy. I’m not gonna pretend this was some elite level win for RDA but under the circumstances, I think it was a very strong showing. Especially when you also factor in that he’s 37 years old and had been inactive himself since 2020.

Put a right beating on Moicano. To the point it was getting a bit uncomfortable to watch towards the end. But fair play to Moicano, he was game as fuck and still throwing down and trying to make something happen in the 5th round. Saw RDA talking about wanting the McGregor fight now but I can’t see that happening. RDA’s a tough fight for McGregor, even now, but it’s not as marketable as some of McGregor’s other options like Poirier, Diaz, Masvidal or worming his way into a title shot would be. I’d be well happy if they can just get that Fiziev fight rebooked.

Bryce Mitchell fucking dominated Barboza in a way I didn’t really expect. The potential for it was always there, we’ve seen Barboza shut down with grappling before. But I don’t think we’ve seen him just completely shut down like this since the Khabib fight. I just had doubts for some reason that Mitchell would be able to take it to Barboza quite like this. If anything, I suspected he might not be ready for the step up yet. Wrong. Really strong performance. 15-0 now and coming off his biggest win to date by far. It’ll be interesting to see who he’s matched up with next.

Kevin Holland vs Alex Oliveira should’ve got FOTN for me. Thought it was quality. I’ve seen everyone seems to be on Holland’s dick again now and 170 is probably a better fit for him, but I still don’t see him going too far. He’ll probably hover around and get some decent name fights but I don’t think he’ll fare too well against any of the top Welterweights. It’s really probably an even worse and tougher division for him style-wise than 185 was. This was a good fight though and there’s fun to be had with him in the middle of the pack. Imagine Holland vs Michel Pereira or Niko Price? Sign me up for either of them!

Sergey Spivak bashing up Greg Hardy was very satisfying to watch. Watching Hardy get beat up never gets old. Fuck him.

I read that this was the last fight on his contract and he’s going into free agency now. Good riddance. He’s lost 3 on the trot now and been stopped all 3 times. He hasn’t even looked good in most of his wins and he brings nothing but negative attention. Wouldn’t be surprised if they re-sign him and keep putting him on PPV main cards though, to be honest, just because Dana seems to have a stiffy for him. I’d have liked to have seen Derrick Lewis give him a pasting but aside from that, fuck him off to Bare Knuckle or Khabib’s fed or something. He’s arse.

Jalin Turner vs Jamie Mullarkey was a scrap and a half as expected. Mullarkey always brings it and Turner’s been on a win and finish streak lately so he was up for it as well. Not a FOTY or anything but if you skipped the prelims this is worth going back to.

Enjoyed the Marina Rodriguez vs Yan Xiaonan fight quite a bit. Still think it should’ve been on the main card over the Hardy fight but whatever. Close one and I thought Xiaonan looked better than usual. Kind of lost track of the scoring and wasn’t sure which way the decision was gonna go but I think Xiaonan going on the back foot a bit in the last round might’ve cost her. Rodriguez was definitely the one pushing the action in the last round and in a close fight, that might’ve been what tipped it in her favour. It’s looking like Namajunas vs Esparza 2 for the title is most likely next. Rodriguez could’ve done with a more clear and decisive win here to really make her case but I think she’ll probably still get a shot at the winner of that later this year.

Loved the Maryna Moroz vs Mariya Agapova grudge match. And I know a MMA fight obviously means nothing in the big picture but it was nice to see Moroz get the win under the circumstances. You could see how much it meant to her and her post-fight interview was emotional.

Her head must’ve been all over the place coming into this fight so for her to perform the way she did and get the submission was quite impressive. Good fight. Nice to see them kind of let the bad blood go after the fight as well. As I covered in the opening post, things were getting ugly there.

Umar Nurmagomedov looks the real deal. Just breezed through Brian Kelleher with ease.

Granted, Kelleher’s not a top guy but he’s still a tough little sod and Umar just ran right through him. 14-0 now. Remains to be seen how he does as he moves up in levels but he’s looking the business so far. I’d still like to see that Jack Shore fight rebooked if Shore wins his fight on the London card in a couple of weeks. That’d be a cracker.

Tim Elliott vs Tagir Ulanbekov was the typical action packed, frantically paced fight we’ve come to expect from the Flyweights. The glove grabbing was shifty as fuck from Elliott though.

Shades of Tim Kennedy in the Yoel Romero fight years ago. Maybe it’s a Tim thing. For that I wanted Ulanbekov to chin him but Elliott was able to outwork him. Good fight though.

Dustin Jacoby vs Michal Oleksiejczuk was a decent scrap. Never quite caught fire like I thought it might but it was entertaining enough. Thought Oleksiejczuk looked like a serious problem at times but he just wasn’t able to maintain it for enough of the fight and the decision went against him. They touched on it on the commentary but I think Oleksiejczuk could really benefit from a drop to 185. He’s clearly got some body fat he could get rid of and I think he could be a right handful if he got himself in top shape.

 

Not a bad show all in all 👍 

Edited March 7, 2022 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

Oleksiejczuk definitely has to goto 185, hes way too small for 205.

Personally thought Elliott/Ulanbekov should have got FOTN, barmy fight. Thought Ulanbekov deserved the nod though. Khabib was not happy about it.

 

[Ironic Indie Lad]

Bryce Mitchell v Edson Barboza was excruciating to watch and not because of the fighters. I honestly don't think there is anything more tedious than a fight where Rogan gets on something and absolutely will not let it go. All he wanted to talk about was the 145 cut destroying Edson. SHUT THE FUCK UP WE GET YOUR POINT.

Didn't expect this to be so dominant. I agreed with whatever judge game 2 x 10-8 rounds. As someone who has done a lot of grappling, my experience is that sometimes you just get guys who are freaky strong despite their physique. Mitchell strikes me as one of those guys. Farm boy strength. Edson probably felt like he had a 205er on top of him.

Mitchell seems to have potential to be some sort of weird cult hero figure. The farming, the rapping, the utterly insane comments on podcasts. He's a maniac. Not to mention the odd spiritual rituals he was getting up to if you watched the embedded shows. 

Overall this felt like quite a weird show to me.

I couldn't really shake the feeling that it was doomed from the off while watching it, certainly in the main events. Firstly as they were selling a grudge match. Realistically, most people who understand fighting knew deep down it was never going to be anything Jorge getting drowned and frustrated. The chances of any real fireworks were quite slim. Secondly throwing Moicano into a 5 rounder with virtually no notice just made that feel like a violent but pointless spar. 

Still, Kevin Holland got back on track with a fairly nice little win. He's a guy I really thought had star potential when he was on that win streak.

[Egg Shen]

Yeah, when Rogan gets a nugget in his head he's relentless with it. It was either Bisping or Anik, but i think they pointed out that it was Barboza's 5th fight at 145lb just to shut him up.

[RancidPunx]

24 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

Yeah, when Rogan gets a nugget in his head he's relentless with it. It was either Bisping or Anik, but i think they pointed out that it was Barboza's 5th fight at 145lb just to shut him up.

Bisping was good overall i thought.

 

[Egg Shen]

it aint over...

 

[David]

Quote

Jorge Masvidal has been arrested and charged in the wake of his alleged assault against Colby Covington in Miami Beach, Fla.

According to online records, Masvidal was arrested on charges of aggravated battery/great bodily harm as well as criminal mischief. He’s currently being held on $15,000 bond in Miami.

If convicted of the current charges, Masvidal could potentially face significant time behind bars with aggravated battery considered a second-degree felony with up to 15 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. Criminal mischief can also result in jail time and/or fines as well.

Masvidal’s arrest comes in the wake of an altercation that allegedly took place outside Papi Steak Restaurant late Monday night where Covington was having dinner with The Nelk Boys, a popular podcast group that frequents UFC events.

Police responded to a call and later stated in a report that the victim, who MMA Fighting identified as Covington, told authorities that he was leaving the restaurant when the alleged assailant ran up and punched him twice. Covington suffered a fractured tooth and an abrasion on his wrist from the assault.

Covington identified Masvidal as his alleged attacker while saying that the veteran UFC fighter shouted “you shouldn’t have been talking about my kids” during the altercation. Covington said he recognized Masvidal’s voice as well as his hair sticking out of his hoodie.

Masvidal seemed to address the altercation later that same night when he posted a video on Twitter saying “call this the show your face challenge … what’s up, I’m from Dade county. You talk that s*** you’ve got to back it up. That’s how my city rolls.”

On Wednesday, Masvidal addressed the situation while appearing in a meeting with the Nevada State Athletic Commission where he tabled an application he had pending for a promoter’s license in the state.

“I had a mutual combatant with another athlete, and you know, I can’t say too much on this, but if we could table [the application] for later, that would be amazing,” Masvidal said.

At the time, Masvidal hadn’t been charged with any crimes but that changed late Wednesday night when he was taken into custody and placed under arrest.

Dude is a coward. He had 25 minutes to show "how his city rolls" and did fuck all. But chooses to creep up and throw some lame cheap shots while Colby isn't expecting it? Nah, he's a coward. 

I hope he faces jail time. 

Edited March 24, 2022 by David

[Keith Houchen]

7 minutes ago, David said:

Dude is a coward. He had 25 minutes to show "how his city rolls" and did fuck all. But chooses to creep up and throw some lame cheap shots while Colby isn't expecting it? Nah, he's a coward. 

I hope he faces jail time. 

Imagine being involved in an incident with Covington and you are the bad guy. What a prick.