Dana White Unsurprised By Jorge Masvidal Attack On Colby Covington: ‘Is Anyone Shocked?’
UFC president, Dana White has reacted to former two-time welterweight title challenger, Jorge Masvidal unnoticed attack on former opponent and one-time interim gold holder, Colby Covington last month, claiming that while he does not condone violence, he was left less than shocked by the incident.
Masvidal and Covington, two former training partners at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida – headlined UFC 272 last month at the T-Mobile Arena – with the latter landing a unanimous decision victory over Masvidal in a bad-blooded main event grudge match.
However, later in the month, Masvidal would allegedly attack Covington without notice outside a restaurant in Miami Beach, Florida – punching Covington, resulting in a fractured tooth, an abrasion to his wrist, and an estimated $15,000 worth of damage to his Rolex watch.
Masvidal was subsequently arrested and released on bail after he was formally charged with aggravated battery and criminal mischief – two felony status charges, with Covington pressing charges against the Miami native.
Jorge Masvidal is expected to appear in court later this month
Sharing his thoughts on the incident for the first time, UFC president, White maintained he would never condone violence outside of the Octagon, but claimed that once a rivalry becomes personal to the extent of Masvidal and Covington’s feud did, it reaches a higher level of tension.
“First of all, in no way shape or form do I ever condone violence and my guys fighting each other in the streets or sh*t like that,” Dana White told on The Pat McAfee Show. “On the flip side, when you’re dealing with a guy like Jorge Masvidal and you start talking about his family, all these fighters – listen, say what you want about to say about me, you hate me, you think I’m ugly, you think I’m stupid – whatever my thing is. When you start talking about people’s families, it goes to a whole other level, man.”
White cited a “f*cking man code” which he believes should not be breached when it comes to trash-talking in the sport, but insisted that he was not surprised by the extra-curricular altercation.
“If you’re talking about people’s families and you’re walking out of a restaurant you better be ready for a guy like Jorge Masvidal to run up on you,” Dana White explained. “I mean, is anybody shocked? He (Colby Covington) talked sh*t about his kids and his wife. Do you think he’s not going to do that? Of course, he’s going to do that.”
“You’ve got to understand these guys were actually friends and training partners, so they know intimate details about each other, about each other’s lives, about each other’s families,” Dana White said. “There is something that’s called f*cking man code. A lot of these young, goofy f*cking dudes these days don’t know about it – but they need to learn about it.” (Transcribed by MMA Junkie)
