EXCLUSIVE | Jorge Masvidal on Colby Covington controversy: he did something right

Last weekend, moments after taking out former welterweight title challenger Demian Maia, Colby Covington unleashed a fiery post-fight callout of Tyron Woodley. During this callout of the champ, Covington also referred to Brazil as a “a dump,” and its people as “filthy animals.” These remarks generated a tidal wave of controversy. In the opinion of Covington’s good friend and training partner Jorge Masvidal, however, this controversy has been a little overblown.

“What was he supposed to say?” Masvidal queried on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “‘I love Brazil, I love you guys’ like every other fake fucking fighter that goes over there and says that, though they got spit on, pushed, shoved and they chanted all types of shit? The guy actually spoke from the heart and he gets crucified for it.”

“[It’s] ridiculous,” he added. “Guys wanna throw down, let them throw down. Obviously I don’t expect to get cheered on when I got to Brazil to fight a Brazilian, I get it. And let them say whatever the fuck they wanna say. Whatever makes them feel better, they spent their money on that ticket and they wanna enjoy themselves and have a good time, let me be their emotional punching bag, I get that, but don’t get mad when somebody gives you a little bit of heat. When somebody says a little bit of something. It’s crazy.”

Whatever the case, Masvidal believes Covington did something right, as people haven’t stopped talking about him since.

“I think he took over in a matter of however long that post speech was, it took over,” he said. “Nobody has stopped talking about it, I haven’t stopped talking about it because the interviewers just keep asking me about it so, he did something right you know? And it’s just the name of the game, you gotta generate headlines. You gotta get people talking about you. And to tell you the truth, he spoke from the heart.”

What do you think of Jorge Masvidal’s take on the Colby Covington situation?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/11/2017.