UFC star Masvidal facing felony battery charge for ‘attack’ on Covington (VIDEO)
Former UFC welterweight title challenger Jorge Masvidal is suspected of felony battery for allegedly attacking rival fighter Colby Covington outside a Miami restaurant on Monday night, according to a police report.
The friends-turned-enemies faced off in the main event at UFC 272 almost three weeks ago, with Covington scoring a one-sided unanimous decision win that improved his record to 17-3 and sentenced 35-16 Masvidal to a third consecutive loss.
Settling their differences in the octagon doesn't seem to have calmed tensions, however, with both fighters since showing an interest in continuing their beef on the streets while Covington has claimed to be the 'king' of Masvidal's hometown Miami, where Covington also now resides.
As indicated by a police report obtained by ESPN, with Covington unidentified under the rights afforded to him by Marsy's Law, the other person involved in the alleged incident believed to be Covington told officers that he was attacked by Masvidal while walking away from the Papi Steak restaurant on 1st Street in Miami Beach.
According to the person who relayed his account to officers, who attended the scene at 10:55 pm local time, 'Gamebred' ran up from behind to Covington's left and sucker-punched him twice, with one punch to the person's mouth and the other landing on his left eye.
Alright guys, I got the police report. Officer Ernesto Rodriguez from Miami Beach police just Emailed it to me.3 witnesses, a victim, and the accused (Masvidal) are listed. Masvidal is under investigation for Felony Assault/Battery. Victim says 4 men ambushed him during attack. pic.twitter.com/pu1GntUeYC
— Oasis MMA (@OasisMma) March 22, 2022
"You shouldn't have been talking about my kids," Masvidal is said to have told his victim, who suffered an abrasion to his left wrist and a fractured left tooth.
According to the person, Masvidal had his hood up and was wearing a blue face mask but could be identified due to his voice, the upper half of his face, and curly hair that flowed out of his hoodie.
Masvidal repeated a similar statement regarding his children on Twitter. "Good morning to everyone except those that think talking about someone’s kids is cool," the 37-year-old tweeted on Tuesday morning as news spread of the incident, after having previously being called a "deadbeat dad" by Covington in the build-up to their fight.
Good morning to everyone except those that think talking about someone’s kids is cool
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) March 22, 2022
Masvidal has also addressed his children in public before and apologized to them for losing the first of two fights to current welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in July 2020 at UFC 251.
"To my daughter and my son, I'm sorry. Gosh, I hate freakin' losing in front of my kids; that's one thing that hurts me," Masvidal lamented in his post-fight interview.
In a social media video on Tuesday morning, Masvidal also tagged Covington, who has similarly been beaten by Usman twice, and warned him: "You talk that s***, you got to back it up. That's how my city rolls, man," and effectively incriminated himself.
According to reports, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal got into a fight at the Papi Steak restaurant in Miami Beach. Police were called. Colby Covington was hanging out with the Nelk boys.Jorge Masvidal posted this video moments ago on Twitter tagging Colby Covington pic.twitter.com/f80njCGXrM
— White Belt MMA (@WhiteBeltMMA_) March 22, 2022
Colby Covington after restaurant altercation with Jorge Masvidal. Appears he’s getting mad at Bob Menery for sharing their location, ultimately what led to Masvidal showing up. He says Masvidal ran up and attacked him, but not for sure as of now. -Via: (@TMZ) pic.twitter.com/3Vm2JANqsN
— Connor Phillipo (@phillllipo) March 22, 2022
Footage from the scene on Monday night obtained by TMZ showed officers surrounding Covington and an accomplice believed to be social media and podcast star Bob Menery after the alleged attack.
"He's over here swinging, trying to come at me, and I ran," Covington admits before asking: "How would he know I'm here?"
But it is Menery that gave their location away by sharing an Instagram story on Monday where he called Covington "the king of motherf*cking Miami" and wrote that Papi Staak "is that spotttttttt".
Additional video shared by TMZ also appears to show Masvidal being held back by several men after his altercation with Covington and shouting "Don't talk about my kids!" before saying "I got you, b*tch" and fleeing in a car that awaited him.
VIDEO: Jorge Masvidal being held back by people, looks like he’s trying to get at Colby Covington outside of the restaurant. -Via: (@TMZ) pic.twitter.com/0v6EXkIdWb
— Connor Phillipo (@phillllipo) March 22, 2022
The ball is now in Covington's court as to whether he wishes to press charges, an act which wouldn't impress one of his former opponents in Tyron Woodley, who held the 170lbs strap before Usman relieved him of it at UFC 235 in March 2019.
"Colby Covington’s a ho if he’s trying to press charges on my dog," Woodley said in an Instagram Live session.
"A fight’s a fight. You just fought him in a cage. If ya’ll still ain’t settled it by then, then s**t might have to go again. It might be for free this time," Woodley added.
UFC president Dana White is yet to comment on the fracas but Masvidal's future with the promotion is secure after signing a contract extension before the Covington fight.
Bouncing back from a second defeat to Usman with the Masvidal win, Covington looks set to push for a trilogy bout with the 'Nigerian Nightmare' as the welterweight division's number one contender.
