Jorge Masvidal discusses possible fights with Colby Covington, Leon Edwards

Jorge Masvidal isn’t interested in fighting his former American Top Team teammate Colby Covington in his next Octagon appearance.

Masvidal got his first crack at UFC gold over the weekend, challenging Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title in the main event of UFC 251. He accepted the fight on just six days’ notice, replacing Usman’s originally scheduled foe Gilbert Burns, who tested positive for COVID-19.

While Masvidal deserves props for taking a fight with the game’s best welterweight on short notice, he ultimately lost a lopsided unanimous decision to the champion.

In the wake of Masvidal’s failed welterweight title bid, the MMA community is already speculating as to what will be next for him.

One options that many fans seem interested in is a fight between Masvidal and his former American Top Team stablemate Colby Covington, who was defeated by Usman via TKO last December.

However, Masvidal seemingly has no interest in this matchup.

“The fragile guy with the MAGA hat, definitely not him,” Masvidal said of Covington at the UFC 251 post-fight press conference (via MMA Fighting). “Cause he got finished by this guy with a full training camp. He had like 12 weeks and he got finished by that guy. That guy’s below me and this dude by a lot.

“Six days’ notice and I was nowhere near getting hurt or getting put out,” Masvidal added. “The gas tank wasn’t the best but I wasn’t going nowhere as far as damage goes. Everybody could see that. So definitely not that punk.”

Masvidal continued, suggesting that Covington is not actually a draw among fans.

“Besides you and a couple reporters in here, nobody knows that guy,” Masvidal said. “And he just got finished by the guy that I fought on six days’ notice. He got his jaw broken, had to run out of there.

“I don’t think he’s at this level. But I don’t know who it’s going to be. Whoever makes the most sense for us.”

Another option that seems to make sense for Masvidal is Leon Edwards. The pair were involved in a backstage brawl at a UFC event in London in 2019, and the matchup makes sense from a rankings standpoint.

“Leon Edwards, I don’t know,” Masvidal said of Edwards. “If the numbers make sense, or whoever it is that the numbers makes sense, and it gets me closer to the title.”

The priority, Masvidal says, is earning a second crack at Usman and the welterweight title.