UFC 272

Covington secured a unanimous-decision win against his friend-turned-rival in the main event of UFC 272.

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Tagir Ulanbekov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) “Where you at, Dustin Poirier? After laughing off a flurry of punches from Covington, Masvidal dropped the former interim welterweight champion with a well-timed overhand right. Covington’s movement was not inhibited enough to prevent him from charging at his compatriot with overhand punches, however, leading “Chaos” to grapple Masvidal against the fence before securing a takedown. Wrestling specialist Covington traded on the feet with Masvidal for a brief spell, landing some straight punches but finding himself on the wrong end of a heavy leg kick that appeared to trouble the American.

With a title shot out of reach, Colby Covington's options for the time being seem to suggest he'll follow a familiar pattern.

A mere athletic contest might not satisfy the enmity of Masvidal. But this gritty game is elevated to something nobler when two combatants who've been beating the crap out of each other for half an hour hear the final horn, end the violence and hug out of respect. And what we saw at the end of the night between Covington and Masvidal was anything but that. At the end of UFC 272, Covington tried to continue the ugly narrative. Nowhere is the combativeness as feisty as it is in the fight business. The callout may seem a bit surprising, but what else is there for Covington to do? And the bout was not even an eliminator to establish the winner as a title challenger. If Usman remains at the top of Mount Welterweight, it's going to be a long road back up that mountain for Covington. Anyone who suspected that maybe, just maybe, the two old roommates had ginned up a friendship-gone-bad angle just to sell pay-per-views was mistaken. The ending was anticlimactic for a fight in which both men promised unabated violence. As athletic commission officials raced into the Octagon to ensure that fisticuffs were done for the night, the fighters yapped at each other from a distance. And for a brief moment in Round 4, when Masvidal stung Covington with a punch and sent him stumbling toward the ground, the fight felt like it might turn into a striking match. Everyone just slid a little closer to the edge of their seats, if sitting was even an option for fans who had been waiting with rapt anticipation for this grudge match.