White insinuates that Masvidal was looking to scuffle with Covington at UFC 241
Covington entered the building and was promptly booed by just about everyone when he got to his section. The crowd was so loud with their venom for him that it distracted from the actual action in the Octagon. And it didn’t stop there. According to UFC president Dana White, everyone - including a prominent fighter and teammate of Covington’s - seemed to want to have a go with him (via MMA Mania):
“Everybody in that section kept fighting with Colby,” White said. “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 f—king professionals because I don’t have another seat in this entire building. That whole section needs to stop starting fights with Colby.
“Right when I got there, too, (Jorge) Masvidal was working his way down the line,” White said. “(Max) Holloway had moved out of his seat so that Masvidal could come into his seat ... that f—king game you play in kindergarten was going on over there when I went over there. So I asked those guys to 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.’”
White isn’t directly saying that Masvidal wanted to fight Covington. But there has been tension between the two of late, especially after Covington insulted Hall-of-Famer Matt Hughes following his win over Robbie Lawler. Covington, meanwhile, says Masvidal’s managers have tried to turn their fighter against Colby.
Masvidal is no stranger to a scuffle outside the cage either. Remember the three piece and a soda he landed on Leon Edwards backstage at UFC London in March?
“Gambred” seems to be on a collision course with Nate Diaz next, and Colby will be looking to win the full 170-pound title. But with the way things are going, we could see these two nose-to-nose in the Octagon one day.