Colby Covington questions the UFC’s decision to “reward” Jorge Masvidal with a title shot: “He ran from me for 6 months and was scared to fight me”

Colby Covington can’t wrap his head around the UFC’s decision to give Jorge Masvidal another welterweight title shot against Kamaru Usman.

Masvidal (35-14 MMA) and Usman (18-1 MMA) originally collided at UFC 251 in July of 2020. That evening in Las Vegas, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ earned a dominant decision victory over ‘Gamebred’ to retain his welterweight world title.

With that said, Jorge Masvidal had taken his first fight with Kamaru Usman on just days notice, so many fans and analysts did not believe we saw the best version of ‘Gamebred’ that evening.

Three months after Usman defeated Masvidal at UFC 251, Colby Covington made his return to the Octagon for a fight with former division champion Tyron Woodley. ‘Chaos’ ultimately emerged victorious by way of fifth-round TKO over ‘T-Wood’ that night, and proceeded to call for a rematch with Kamaru Usman.

Unfortunately for Covington, his requests for a rematch with Usman fell on deaf ears, as Dana White and company ultimately proceeded with booking ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ in a rematch with Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 instead.

Colby Covington recently spoke about the promotions bizarre decision in an interview with Helen Yee.

https://twitter.com/HelenYeeSports/status/1377795371301269504

“You know, me and Ben (Askren) have had a feud. You know he’s always talked sh*t about me in the media and we’ve exchanged some not so nice words in the past, but the fact that he is coming out and showing support for me shows, you know, that I deserve it (a title shot) more than anybody right now.” Covington explained. “He knows that I’ve been putting in the work and he knows that Jorge Masvidal is scared to fight me. Since he ran from me for six months and was scared to fight me, how do you reward that guy and give him another title shot?”

Colby Covington continued:

“It doesn’t make sense. You know I think the fans aren’t happy with it based on their comments and their support of me. They want to see me back out there. They know I’m going to put on the best show inside the Octagon and outside of the Octagon. So, you know, hopefully Ben (Askren) goes out there and knocks out Jake Paul. I’m just sick of hearing him talking man. He’s just running his mouth and there’s no substance behind anything he says.”

Would you have preferred to see a rematch between Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman over next month’s current UFC 261 headliner? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!