UFC News: Dana White reveals Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal almost ignited a brawl at UFC 241
During the UFC 241 post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White revealed that a brawl almost broke out between Jorge Masvidal and former interim UFC Welterweight Champion, Colby Covington.
Covington, who obviously isn't the most liked fighter on the UFC roster, nearly got taken out by Masvidal, who was seemingly assisted by UFC Featherweight Champion, Max Holloway.
Colby Covington's prominent rise in the Welterweight Division
Having made his UFC debut in 2014, Covington has established himself as one of the fastest rising fighters in the Welterweight Division. Securing vital wins over the likes of Anying Wang, Demian Maia, and Max Griffin, Covington first tasted championship success at UFC 225 in 2018 when he defeated Rafael dos Anjos to win the interim UFC Welterweight Championship.
After being briefly linked with a title unification bout with Tyron Woodley, Covington was eventually stripped of his Welterweight strap.
In the main event of UFC on ESPN 5, Covington made his return to the Octagon for the first time in almost a year and comprehensively outclassed former American Top Team partner Robbie Lawler in a five-round fight.
UFC 241: What could've been another ugly UFC brawl
As confirmed by UFC President Dana White in a recent press conference, Masvidal, who at UFC 241 was called out for a fight by the returning Nate Diaz, was close to picking a fight with Colby Covington.
White revealed that people constantly picked fights with Covington in the crowd but the UFC President refused to remove Chaos from that section of the crowd as he wanted his fighters to act like professionals. (H/T: MMA Mania)
“Everybody in that section kept fighting with Colby. So security kept coming over to me 50 times to get him out of there. And I said, ‘No, everybody needs to start acting like professionals because I don’t have another seat in this entire building. That whole section needs to stop starting fights with Colby.”
White further detailed Masvidal's plan to attack Covington during the event.
“Right when I got there, too, Masvidal was working his way down the line. Holloway had moved out of his seat so that Masvidal could come into his seat ... that game you play in kindergarten was going on over there when I went over there. So I asked those guys listen to me: ‘We’ve got a big night going on here. We have a big fight. I don’t need a fight breaking out with you knuckleheads. Stop it.’”