Jorge Masvidal was arrested late Wednesday in Miami Beach, Fla., two days after allegedly attacking rival Colby Covington outside a restaurant – less than three weeks after the pair headlined UFC 272.
Masvidal faces multiple charges, including aggravated battery and criminal mischief, the Miami Beach Police Department confirmed.
If convicted, a second-degree aggravated battery charge can result in up to 15 years in prison.
The 37-year-old was detained at Miami’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $15,000 bond after turning himself in to police.
Masvidal’s manager, Malki Kawa, confirmed via Twitter early Thursday the fighter had been released from the facility.
According to the police report, Masvidal allegedly struck a man twice with a closed fist, once in the mouth and once in the eye, outside Miami Beach’s Papi Steak restaurant late Monday. One punch allegedly resulted in the victim sustaining a fractured tooth. The victim’s $90,000 Rolex watch was also allegedly damaged during the attack.
The victim in the police report provided a sworn statement alleging Masvidal was wearing a hoodie, sweatpants and a blue surgical mask covering his face but was identifiable because of his voice and long, curly hair.
The victim's name was redacted in the police report. Masvidal tagged Covington in a since-deleted tweet and TMZ Sports posted video of Covington speaking with police shortly after the alleged incident.
Covington can at one point be heard in the video saying to an acquaintance: “How would he know I’m here?”
The former American Top Team training partners ended their friendship several years ago, culminating in a five-round UFC main event bout earlier this month. Covington dominated the fight and won a unanimous decision.
Covington’s trash-talking style of promoting fights has rubbed many fighters the wrong way over the past five years during his rise to polarizing stardom. Covington has been publicly confronted by the likes of Fabricio Werdum and Kamaru Usman in the past.
Covington referenced his opponent's personal life, including Masvidal’s children, in the lead-up to their fight, and it’s something Masvidal didn’t forget.
According to the police report, Masvidal allegedly said, “You shouldn't have been talking about my kids,” during the attack.
Masvidal landed 38 significant head strikes against Covington in their 25-minute fight and said at the UFC 272 post-fight press conference that he still planned on punching his rival if he saw him out in public.
“It just sucks because this idiot talked about my kids, you know?” Masvidal said when asked if he had unfinished business with Covington. “He’s still somebody, if I see him out in the streets, I’m gonna give him everything I got to break his (expletive) jaw, you know? It doesn’t matter if I lost wrestling scrambles tonight. I still think he’s a (expletive), you know?”
Both Masvidal and Covington live in South Florida but have been training at separate gyms.
Masvidal has previously taken his transgressions out on a fellow UFC welterweight outside of a competitive setting.
Masvidal famously attacked Leon Edwards backstage at a UFC event in England three years ago after Edwards merely told him to “shut up.”
Since Covington is disliked by a not-so-small portion of the mixed martial arts community, it was relatively common to see fellow fighters and former fighters comment and even applaud Masvidal’s alleged actions.
Khabib Nurmagomedov released a statement chastising the fact that charges have been pressed and even suggested no UFC welterweight should agree to fight Covington in the Octagon.
Nurmagomedov and his teammates were at the centre of a post-fight brawl inside and outside the cage after his UFC 226 win over Conor McGregor in 2018. One of Nurmagomedov’s teammates at one point climbed into the cage and sucker-punched McGregor.
Fellow former UFC champion Rafael dos Anjos had a different take on Masvidal’s actions.
In other UFC crime-related news …
MCGREGOR REPORTEDLY ARRESTED IN IRELAND
Former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor was arrested in Dublin Tuesday for dangerous driving, according to The Irish Independent.
A spokesperson for McGregor provided the newspaper with the following statement: “Mr. McGregor was driving to the gym when he was stopped by gardaí for alleged road traffic violations. He passed the drug and alcohol tests taken at the station.”
McGregor, who Forbes listed as the world’s top-earning athlete in 2021, reportedly had his Bentley Continental GT temporarily seized.
The UFC superstar is due to appear in a Blanchardstown district court next month, the same court he appeared in when fined in 2017 for a separate traffic violation.
The 33-year-old hasn’t fought since breaking his leg during his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier in July.
UFC 274 BOUTS FINALIZED
In some non-legal-system UFC news, the organization officially announced its lineup for the upcoming UFC 274 event scheduled for May 7 at Phoenix’s Footprint Center.
The main event will see reigning UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira look to defend his belt against former interim titleholder and current No. 1-ranked 155-pound contender Justin Gaethje.
Oliveira (32-8, one no-contest) has a 10-fight winning streak going and is riding the momentum of back-to-back stoppage wins over Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler.
Gaethje (23-3) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Chandler in November that earned the pair a Fight of the Night bonus. Gaethje’s only loss since 2018 was when he was submitted by Nurmagomedov in October 2020.
Rose Namajunas is set to defend her UFC strawweight title against No. 2-ranked 115-pound challenger Carla Esparza in the co-main event. This is a rematch of the inaugural UFC strawweight title bout back in 2014, when the division was first introduced to the UFC. Esparza submitted Namajunas with a third-round rear-naked choke in that meeting.
A featured lightweight fight between fan favourites Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson is also slated for the main card.
The following bouts were also confirmed for the event:
-- Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Ovince Saint Preux
-- Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon
-- Brandon Royval vs. Matt Schnell
-- Blagoy Ivanov vs. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
-- Tracy Cortez vs. Melissa Gatto
-- Macy Chiasson vs. Norma Dumont
-- Randy Brown vs. Khaos Williams
-- Francisco Trinaldo vs. Danny Roberts
-- Kleydson Rodrigues vs. CJ Vergara
-- Ariane Carnelossi vs. Lupita Godinez
-- Journey Newson vs. Fernie Garcia
