The last few days have not been the best for Jorge Masvidal as in addition to recently losing his last welterweight fight, the UFC fighter ended Monday night in the custody of Miami police.
According to MMA Junkie journalist Nolan King, Jorge Masvidal was arrested after a fight in a Miami restaurant last Monday, precisely with Colby Covington, who defeated him on March 5 at UFC 272.
King notes that the UFC star was arrested and charged with one count of aggravated assault for various bodily injuries caused, as well as another count of criminal act. Which is why he was taken into custody in Miami before leaving on $15,000 bail.
While there are no formal charges against Jorge Masvidal, the Miami Beach Police Department began investigating the case Tuesday, identifying Masvidal as a suspect and Covington as a victim of the incident after obtaining footage from the restaurant’s security camera and several body cameras while speaking with Covington and the other witnesses to the altercation.
According to the report, upon arriving at the scene police spoke to Covington, who told them he was “attacked by Jorge Masvidal.” Covington alleged that he left the restaurant and that Masvidal “ran to him from his left and without warning hit him with a clenched fist twice in the face.” The report adds that Covington received one blow to the mouth and the other punch to the left eye.
It was also learned that Covington told police that during the altercation he heard Masvidal say, “You shouldn’t have been talking about my children,” which is the alleged reason for the problem outside the ring.
Covington also reportedly plans to ask authorities for his assailant to pay him $15,000 for damage to the Rolex watch he was carrying, which is valued at $90,000.
History between Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington
Although it may not seem like it, a few years ago, at the beginning of their careers, Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington were great friends. Their friendship was so close that they shared a gym and coach. However, the latter was the cause of discord between the two after a dispute began over an alleged non-payment of Covington to Masvidal’s coach, Paulino Hernández.
The pair were eventually kicked out of the gym when tensions turned too much for American Top Team owner Dan Lambert. At the same time, Masvidal was allowed to return as one of the gym’s highest-level fighters, while Covington joined the rival gym, MMA Masters.
Since then, issues between the two have been the order of the day, with their last official battle being the one mentioned above when Covington, 34, and Masvidal, 37, faced off in the main event at T-Mobile Arena in a five-round fight, and Covington got victorious by unanimous decision after dominating his rival for most of the 25-minute fight.
Following the victory, Covington continued to tease Jorge Masvidal on social media in the days and weeks following the match, while at the post-fight press conference, Masvidal stated that he intended to resolve his grudge with Covington outside the cage after the latter talked about his children during the run-up to their fight.
“If I see him on the streets, I will give him everything I have to break his jaw,” Masvidal said at the time. “It doesn’t matter if I lost the wrestling match tonight, I still think it’s a pie… of shi… “