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From the sound of things the saga of Jorge Masvidal’s assault of Colby Covington has finally reached something like a conclusion. The 38-year-old surrendered himself to Miami-Dade police back in March of last year on felony assault charges related to an altercation with his UFC rival outside Papi Steak restaurant in Miami.
Covington told officers at the time that a masked man he recognized as Masvidal approached him as he left the restaurant yelling at Covington about comments the MMA Masters talent had made about Masvidal’s family in the lead up to their bout at UFC 272 earlier that month. Covington ended up defeating Masvidal inside the Octagon via 5-round unanimous decision.
“I can see in his eyes, it’s Jorge Masvidal,” Covington said in a statement to officers. “I can see his hair coming out of his hoodie, but he has a face mask on. A surgical face mask. But he’s saying, ‘You shouldn’t have f-cking talked about my kids, you shouldn’t have f-cking talked about my kids.’ So I was easily able to identify, like, that’s his voice, that’s his eyes, that’s his hair. I know exactly who that is and he took two quick punches to me.”
Felony charges dropped, Jorge Masvidal cops to misdemeanor assault
Initially after the incident, Jorge Masvidal issued several statements through social media seemingly taking indirect responsibility for assaulting Covington. However, once it became clear that authorities were going to be involved, Masvidal maintained his innocence.
“I come from a different place than many people and we walk differently in that place,” Masvidal said back in May of last year. “I am not going to let anyone disrespect my family. I can’t talk much because they are charging me with three felonies. I can only say that I am innocent.”
Despite his denials, however, MMA Junkie reports that Masvidal accepted a plea of misdemeanor batter on Monday, November 6th in Miami-Dade county. In exchange for his plea, two felony counts carrying a potential penalty of $10,000 and/or 15-years in prison were dropped. As a result, Masvidal was sentenced to time served as well as an agreement to pay court costs from the case. Masvidal appeared in person for the sentencing and gave a statement outside the courthouse.
“Just beat the case,” Masvidal proclaimed. “I want to thank God, and I also want to thank this man right here—because I’m a free ****ing man,” he added, introducing his lawyer Bradford Cohen.
“**** you Colby, it’s gonna be a ****ing movie now. All these orders, all these restraining orders, all these things have been lifted off; it’s gonna be a ****ing movie. Thank you Brad, God bless. If you run into trouble, this is the dude right here, huh? I’m telling you. Undefeated in this ****ing court room.”
Covington did not appear for the sentencing. A former friend, teammate, and roommate of Masvidal’s ‘Chaos’ is currently preparing to once again challenge for the welterweight UFC title. The 35-year-old has not appeared in the Octagon since defeating Masvidal in last year’s grudge match, at one point even claiming that the had suffered a “brain injury” as a result of the assault.
Despite Masvidal’s obvious joy at the verdict, the conclusion of his criminal case does open the door to serious repercussions on the civil side of things. Having plead guilty, even to misdemeanor assault could make it very difficult for Masvidal to deny culpability if Covington wants to file a lawsuit for damages suffered as a result of the incident. Gamebred won’t be headed to jail, but he could be headed for a hefty hit to his bank account.
Jorge Masvidal brags about booming Papi Steak business
Jorge Masvidal may have been unwilling to admit his guilt in assaulting Covington in the months leading up to his plea deal, but that didn’t stop him from bragging about the resulting fame from the incident. Most notably, ‘Gamebred’ has claimed that the Miami steakhouse ‘Papi Steak’, where the assault took place, has seen booming business since that infamous night back in 2022. So much so that Masvidal says the manager has thanked him personally.
“No, that dude loves me, actually,” Masvidal told Jake Paul, when asked if he was banned from the restaurant back in June. “I ran into him the other night, because—I’ve run into him a couple times—and he was like, ‘Man! Since that freakin’ little rumor that, allegedly, you were there, reservations went through the roof.’ Like, 530%, he said. And I was like, ‘I would love to take these nice vibes you’re giving me, but that was “allegedly,” we both know.’ And he was like, ‘I know, man. But still!’”
“They were doing great before, but he said, after that pshooo!”
The longtime ATT fighter competed once more inside the Octagon, losing a unanimous decision to Gilbert Burns back in April of this year, before calling it quits on his MMA career. In the time since, Masvidal has hinted that he might be interested in a boxing bout sometime in the future, but would have to negotiate the move as he is still under UFC contract. In the meantime, the former title contender has focused his efforts on growing his Gamebred FC fight promotion.
Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA returns this Friday, November 10th at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, for a heavyweight title fight between former UFC talents Alan Belcher and Roy Nelson. The event will be co-mained by a featherweight bout between Randy Costa and Jason Knight.
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