Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal reach comparison: Who has the advantage?

Jorge Masvidal [left], Colby Covington [right]

Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington have mostly identical measurements heading into their main event fight at UFC 272. However, Masvidal enjoys a two-inch arm reach advantage over his opponent. Meanwhile, Covington could try and utilize his 1.5-inch edge in leg reach over the Miami native.

Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal is officially on! 🔥 #UFC272 https://t.co/DesY2FgkwU

It's hard to tell who will be able to utilize the aforementioned advantages better. The numbers could give fans a hint. In terms of landing strikes, there's not much to choose between the pair. Masvidal has landed 4.22 strikes per minute in his UFC career, while Covington is close behind with 4.14.

However, it is 'Gamebred' who clearly appears to be the more accurate striker, having registered 48 percent striking accuracy. On the other hand, Covington is at 38 percent.

Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington lifts the lid on what started their feud

Before becoming bitter rivals, Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington were good friends. The pair honed their craft at the American Top Team (ATT) gym and were even roommates at one point. However, their relationship fell apart and both have their side of the story.

Masvidal has said in previous interviews that Covington started the feud when he did not pay their former longtime coach. During their recent virtual face-off interview with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, 'Gamebred' maintained his stance and reiterated:

"It first started out with this piece of s*** not paying my coach $12,500 for a fight... Then when he had the chance to finally pay back the $12,500, he didn’t. So, I went out there and paid my coach out of my own pocket so since then, it was like 'I’m going to f*** him up at some point.'"

Jorge Masvidal revealed that the payment issue was the main reason why 'Chaos' was asked to leave the ATT gym. 'Gamebred' also hinted that Covington had a gambling problem and was deep in debt:

"Everyone at American Top Team knows that’s why he got kicked out, [and] soon to be kicked out of [his current] gym [too] because you don’t pay your bills, and you're drowning in debt from all the loan sharks that you owe money in South Florida from poker."

As expected, 'Chaos' clapped back with his own version of the account. Covington said that his upcoming opponent was lying and that he didn't get paid the money he was supposed to make at the time:

"It’s fake news, Stephen A, it’s fake news. Anything Jorge Masvidal says is a lie. You can’t believe anything he says. He’s all talk, no walk. Yeah, he’s getting paid a lot of money... but he ain’t doing anything. He ain’t doing anything. You can ask his owner. His master Dan Lambert [ATT gym founder] actually knows how much I got paid. That night I got that paycheck, I got paid half of what they said."

Watch Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington have a heated argument below:

It didn't take long for @StephenASmith to learn that the bad blood between @GamebredFighter and @ColbyCovMMA is real 🤬 @espnmma

Watch the full Stephen A's World interview this Tuesday on @ESPNPlus https://t.co/91dpyr7o8f

UFC 272: Covington vs. Masvidal will be the promotion's third pay-per-view event this year. The much-anticipated fight will take place on March 5 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.