Masvidal pleads not guilty, gets court date
Jorge Masvidal is accused of sucker punching Colby Covington at a Miami restaurant.
The bad blood between Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington seems to have gotten worse since their five round fight in the main event of UFC 272 a few weeks ago. Covington won that bout by unanimous decision after weeks of farcical promotion from both men.
Masvidal and Covington’s fight-selling hype might have crossed over into real world animosity recently, with accusations that Masvidal attacked Covington at a Miami restaurant on March 22.
A police report stated that the unnamed victim of the suspected attack—who is being widely reported as Covington—stated that Masvidal approached him wearing a hoodie and blue surgical mask outside the Papi Steak restaurant and blindsided him with two punches to the face, resulting in a fractured tooth. The police report also claims that Masvidal was accompanied by three or four other men.
The alleged victim stated that he pushed one of the other men away from him and then retreated into the restaurant. He also claimed that Masvidal called out and said “You shouldn’t have been talking about my kids.”
Masvidal has been charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, which may meet the criteria for a second-degree felony. This week Masvidal surrendered himself to police and was booked on that charge before being released on bail.
According to MMA Junkie Masvidal entered a written not guilty plea to that charge on Thursday. An arraignment hearing in this case has now been scheduled for April 21.
The loss to Covington in the cage earlier this month was the third defeat in a row for the 37-year-old Masvidal. Prior to being out-foxed by Covington, Masvidal was brutally KO’d by UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
Masvidal’s three-fight losing skid started with a unanimous decision loss to Usman on UFC Fight Island in 2020. Before that loss he had a three fight winning streak that included his highlight reel KO over Ben Askren and a TKO (cut) win over Nate Diaz.