Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here’s what you need to know to watch UFC 272 on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
Manon Fiorot is without an opponent after Jessica Eye announced her withdrawal from UFC 272.
UFC 272 has lost a matchup in the women’s flyweight division.
On Friday, former title challenger [autotag]Jessica Eye[/autotag] (15-10 MMA, 5-9 UFC) announced her withdrawal from her scheduled bout against France’s Manon Fiorot (8-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) which was set to take place on the upcoming pay-per-view event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Eye’s opportunity to bounce back into the win column will have to wait a little longer as an undisclosed injury has forced her out of next weekend’s event.
“Hey Believe’rs, I’m sorry to report that I’m out of my fight at UFC 272 due to an injury I sustained last night,” Eye wrote on Instagram. “I’m extremely disappointed as it was a INCREDIBLE camp with my original team back home in Cleveland @strongstyle_mma. My Apologies to my opponent and the UFC. I look forward to the opportunity to Entertain and fight in front you all again In a few weeks when I’m clear to return to full contact training.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CaaxRPbP5FJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Eye last competed in a bout against Jennifer Maia at UFC 264 in July, suffering her third consecutive unanimous decision loss. She picked up a win over Viviane Araujo at UFC 245 after being stopped by Valentina Shevchenko in her bid for the title at UFC 238. Prior to that, she had one of the best years of her career, when she racked up three straight wins in 2018.
At the time of writing, it is unclear if Fiorot will remain on the card to face another opponent on short notice or if the bout against Eye will be rescheduled. Fiorot made her UFC debut in 2021 and competed three times, picking up wins over Victoria Leonardo, Tabatha Ricci, and Mayra Bueno Silva.
With the removal, the current lineup of UFC 272 is as follows:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, ESPN+ 8 p.m. ET)
EARLY PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+ 6 p.m. ET)
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Devonte Smith will get a change in opponent just a week out from UFC 272.
[autotag]Devonte Smith[/autotag] will get a change in opponent just a week out from UFC 272.
[autotag]Erick Gonzalez[/autotag] has been forced out and [autotag]Ludovit Klein[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will step in on short notice to face Smith (11-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) next Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Smith confirmed the booking on social media Thursday following an initial report from Eurosport Nederland.
Smith has split his past four appearances. After returning from an almost two-year layoff in February 2021 to score a TKO over Justin Jaynes, the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate was stopped in the second round by Jamie Mullarkey at UFC Fight Night 193.
Klein also will look to rebound. After scoring a head kick knockout of Shane Young in his promotional debut at UFC 253, the 27-year-old saw his eight-fight winning streak snapped when he dropped back-to-back bouts to Mike Trizano and, most recently, Nate Landwehr.
The current lineup for UFC 272 includes:
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“He’s not a well-rounded fighter. He can’t keep up with my pace. I know I can take him down and drown him.”
If [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] can’t get a third crack at welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, then he’s willing to move up a weight class.
Covington (16-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) will look to regain No. 1 contender status when he faces former teammate Jorge Masvidal (35-15 MMA, 12-8 UFC) in the main event of UFC 272 next week.
Being down 0-2 to the champion often makes it hard to get a third shot at the title. So if a win over Masvidal doesn’t result in another opportunity, Covington likes his chances against UFC middleweight champ [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] (22-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC).
“I’m not opposed to going up to 185 pounds and beating up ‘Stylebender,'” Covington told Yahoo Sports. “That guy, he’s not a well-rounded fighter. He can’t keep up with my pace. I know I can take him down and drown him. So there’s a lot of options out there for me. If I don’t get a chance to do my third fight with Usman, then it’s OK.”
Covington gave Usman arguably the toughest fights of his UFC career. In their first outing at UFC 245, one judge had Covington up three rounds to one heading into Round 5 before Usman scored a TKO victory. Although Usman also won the rematch at UFC 268, Covington was able to weather an early storm and turn the tide to win some rounds from the champion.
So if a third fight never materializes, Covington is happy to move on.
“Deep down inside, I truly know who’s the better fighter, and I can go away with my career knowing that he wasn’t a better fighter and he didn’t didn’t prove that to me,” Covington said. “There’s still unfinished business, but if he wants to walk away from the sport, then that’s his decision. I’m not going anywhere. I’m just getting started. The best is yet to come, so you might be seeing Usman retire the next year and Colby will be the undisputed champ.”
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“That motherf*cker doesn’t want it, man. I almost damn near killed him.”
[autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] is open to rematching [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] but doesn’t think Diaz feels the same way.
Masvidal (35-15 MMA, 12-8 UFC) capped off his incredible 2019 by battering Diaz (20-13 MMA, 15-11 UFC) en route to a TKO via doctor’s stoppage at UFC 244, capturing the inaugural “BMF” title.
Diaz is coming off a lopsided decision loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 263 this past June, where he was predominantly outstruck until he almost finished Edwards at the end of the fight. Based off of what he saw, Masvidal doesn’t think it would be a good idea for Diaz to fight him again.
“That motherf*cker don’t want it, man,” Masvidal said in a live Q&A on Rumble. “I almost damn near killed him. I beat him an inch within his f*cking skinny life. You saw his last fight with Leon (Edwards). I was like, man, they make that mistake and put this guy in there with me again, you know? He’s not trying to fight.”
“Gamebred” is slated to face former best friend-turned foe Colby Covington in the UFC 272 main event next month in Las Vegas and could see a Diaz rematch down the line – but he says his main focus remains the title.
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If a win over Covington doesn’t directly result in another crack at UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, then Masvidal would consider running things back with Diaz, who’s currently angling for a fight against Dustin Poirier.
“That little f*cking broomstick keeps talking. You’re going to have to go at some point,” Masvidal said. “After I take Colby’s ass out, if I’ve got to wait for Usman, it could be you that gets this ass whooping, bro. While I’m waiting for Usman after I get this No. 1 ranking, I go back to beating the sh*t out of you just to keep myself entertained. At first it started so cool and amicable, but man you’re a real f*cking idiot. You’ve said some dumbass sh*t numerous times, and I’ve forgiven you … but let’s f*cking go, man. I’m going to break your f*cking face, bro.”
He continued, “It’s not a callout. After handling business, I’m going for the title, and if I don’t have time to go for the title, I’m going to break your f*cking face for all the sh*t talking you’ve done.”
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American Top Team owner Dan Lambert dishes on just how bad things were at the gym while Colby Covington was still on the team.
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. – [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] and [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag]’s rivalry hit a point where American Top Team owner Dan Lambert asked both men to leave the gym.
But only one fighter ended up departing their longtime home, and that was Covington, who now trains out of neighboring MMA Masters.
“Yeah, it got toxic,” Lambert told MMA Junkie. “It got to the point where it was affecting the gym. We’ve had lots of fighters in this gym over the last 25 years. We’ve had people that love each other, we’ve had people who don’t like each other, but we’ve always been able to separate that, keep some professionalism in the gym and not let it affect the team. Their situation got to the point where it was affecting people inside the gym, and I couldn’t keep it under control. And at one point, we had to tell both of them to leave.”
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Covington (16-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) and Masvidal (35-15 MMA, 12-8 UFC), former best friends-turned enemies, will get to settle their differences when they square off in the UFC 272 main event on March 5 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Even without the dramatic storyline, Lambert said former welterweight title challengers Masvidal and Covington squaring off is massive.
“One guy’s on our team, and one guy isn’t,” Lambert said. “So there’s no shying away from it. This is a huge fight. Personal grudges aside, it’s a huge fight. You’ve got two of the best fighters in the world, in one of the best divisions in the world, going at it. They’re high-level guys. Take away Kamaru Usman, who’s the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and Jorge hasn’t lost a fight since 2017. Colby hasn’t lost one since 2015. So, big implications in the rankings for this and just big implications in MMA overall.”
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Just eight days out from UFC Fight Night 201, Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rafael Fiziev has been pulled as the main event and moved to UFC 272.
The UFC Fight Night 201 main event is off just eight days out from the event.
Issues pertaining to [autotag]Rafael Fiziev[/autotag]’s travel visa have prevented him from meeting former champ [autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag] in the Feb. 26 lightweight headliner, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.
The situation won’t cancel the bout entirely, though. The promotion has already made plans to reschedule dos Anjos (31-13 MMA, 19-11 UFC) vs. Fiziev (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) as the co-main event for UFC 272 on March 5, with five rounds remaining in tact.
MMA Junkie verified the changes with a person close to the situation following an initial report from MMA journalist Ariel Helwani. The person requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
It’s unknown at this time which fight will replace dos Anjos vs. Fiziev as the UFC Fight Night 201 main event. A light heavyweight bout between Jamahal Hill and Johnny Walker is the current co-headliner.
Fiziev is enjoying a very successful stretch in his career. The muay-Thai specialist is on a five-fight winning streak, which includes notable wins over Renato Moicano, Bobby Green and, most recently, Brad Riddell. Fiziev’s lone professional MMA defeat came in his UFC debut back in 2019 to the hands of Magomed Mustafaev.
On the other hand, ex-UFC lightweight champion dos Anjos looks to stay in the win column since dropping back down to 155 pounds following an eight-fight run at welterweight. The Brazilian returned to the lightweight division in November 2020, defeating Paul Felder by decision. Prior to that, dos Anjos was mired in a 1-4 stretch at welterweight.
UFC 272 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a main card that airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Check out the latest lineup for the card below:
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Jorge Masvidal is eager to expose Colby Covington in and out of the octagon.
[autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] is eager to expose [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] in and out of the octagon.
Masvidal (35-15 MMA, 12-8 UFC) will meet his former friend, now foe, in the main event March 5 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and “Gamebred” is looking forward to settling the beef with his former teammate.
“It’s so amazing that I’m going to get to punch this guy in the face,” Masvidal told Fox News’ Jesse Watters. “And I really don’t like this guy, and I’m going to get paid for it – a big amount of money. And I can’t wait just to expose him once again to the world. He’s a charlatan.”
Both Masvidal and Covington (16-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) are avid supporters of former U.S. president Donald Trump, but Masvidal thinks Covington is just putting up a front for promotional purposes.
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“If you don’t believe me, just ask him any – what’s his favorite law that Trump passed while Trump was in presidency, or anything like that,” Masvidal said. “Ask that idiot anything politically related. You’ll see he’s just a fraud, man. He’s just holding up books to get triggers and things like that, but he doesn’t know anything about what he talks about. And about fighting, he’s very limited. I’m going to show it, March (5), how limited he is.”
Masvidal recently released an 11-minute promotional video, “The Real Street Judas,” in which he gave fans an inside look at how his relationship with Covington soured over the years.
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Jorge Masvidal goes in on exposing his former best friend and current heated rival, Colby Covington, before their fight at UFC 272.
[autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] has released a video in an attempt to expose his former best friend and now current heated rival.
Masvidal (35-15 MMA, 12-8 UFC) will finally get an opportunity to settle his score with [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] (16-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) when the pair square off in the UFC 272 main event on March 5 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
And while the fight sells itself, “Gamebred” decided to take things up a notch by releasing a promo video that shows Covington’s change of character throughout the years and how their friendship fell apart.
Check out Masvidal’s video below:
To be continued…. https://t.co/xC9yxnZuMR
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) February 3, 2022
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“If Kamaru Usman did not exist, Colby Covington would probably be the champion.”
UFC president Dana White can see why oddsmakers are favoring [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] over [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag].
Covington (16-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) meets Masvidal (35-15 MMA, 12-8 UFC) at March’s UFC 272 in what is being dubbed as one of the biggest grudge matches in the promotion’s history.
Both men have recently lost twice to UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, but Covington has arguably pushed Usman more than any other fighter ever has. Although Covington failed in his bid to become champion on two occasions, White lauded him for his recent performances and isn’t surprised that he’s the betting favorite over Masvidal.
“It doesn’t because that kid’s looked so good,” White told Yahoo Sports. “If Kamaru Usman did not exist, Colby Covington would probably be the champion.”
According to Tipico Sportsbook, Covington is a -330 favorite, meaning a $330 bet on “Chaos” would yield $100 in return. Masvidal, meanwhile, is a +260 underdog, meaning a $100 bet on “Gamebred” would bring $260 in return.
Covington has not minced his words towards his former best friend-turned enemy, and with the intensity of their rivalry and Masvidal’s proven drawing power, their fight has landed a pay-per-view main event slot despite being a non-title fight.
Although White has had his issues with Covington in the past, he can’t deny that the former interim champ puts his money where his mouth is.
“People don’t like Colby, but let me tell you what, Colby shows up to fight, man,” White added. “He shows up to fight, and these two hate each other so bad it can’t – it’s going to be a great fight.”
He continued, “Before the Usman-Covington fight was even made, the second one, all I kept talking about is that the first one was one of the best fights I’ve ever seen. If you’ve got a guy that goes out and talks a lot of trash and then goes in and stinks the place up, there’s nothing worse than that. There’s nothing worse than a talker that doesn’t deliver. That is not Colby Covington.”
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