Colby Covington ends MAGA rivalry with Jorge Masvidal with a dominant performance at UFC 272

• Colby Covington just beat Jorge Masvidal on Saturday at UFC 272 in Las Vegas.
• The welterweight rivals had been chirping for years, and finally threw hands this weekend.

LAS VEGAS — Sin City's T-Mobile Arena was popping Saturday as a bloodthirsty crowd perched on the edges of their seats when two fan favorites, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal, entered the UFC Octagon ready to wage war.

The welterweight rivals were once friends, training partners, and as close as brothers.

But over the years that friendship turned sour. Death threats were issued. This week, they bizarrely argued over who was the bigger right-winger. Politics has been injected into this promotion at every opportunity.

Masvidal once earned the fictitious "Baddest Mother Fucker" in the game belt for his blood and guts win over Nate Diaz in 2019.

Three years on, and the build-up to this event could have included a make-believe MAGA title, as Masvidal argued at a media event Insider attended this week that Covington is a fake Donald Trump fan.

But, for 25 minutes at UFC 272, they exchanged strikes rather than insults, much to the delight of an amped crowd who — despite their allegiances — were united in their desire to watch chaos unfold.

And boy, did chaos unfold.

Shortly after security dispersed from the Octagon, Masvidal attempted to land the same flying knee that he knocked Ben Askren out cold with, in an immortal five-second finish two years ago. This time, though, it just looked sloppy.

Covington then ascended, executing his grappling by taking Masvidal to the floor and looking for a rear-naked choke submission — but Masvidal rarely taps, and was unfazed at the attempt to end the bout there and then.

Shortly after, Covington tried to make things dirty — with strikes to the back of the head, an eye poke, and a knee to the groin.

Regardless of the rogue fouls, Covington controlled the pace, aggression, and the fight.

His jabbing was a sight to behold, he looked the stronger and more physically imposing fighter, and his elbowing in the third was just plain nasty.

UFC announcer Bruce Buffer may have introduced Masvidal as the boxer in this style match, but in the fourth, Covington — the wrestler — showed off superior punch variety, and hurled combinations at his adversary's skull.

Masvidal is a tough dude. He spent his teenage years in backyard brawls on the internet, and ate the shots Covington threw.

But then his one moment came. Masvidal stung Covington with strikes of his own, rallying many of the 20,000 Las Vegas fans who had been accustomed to Covington winning.

That counter left bit Covington so bad he dropped to his knee.

But any momentum Masvidal had in the fourth, he failed to take into the fifth as Covington reminded him, and everyone who had dared cheer the Floridian fighter, that this was his world, and Masvidal was just living in it.

Masvidal finished the bout in a position he spent a lot of time in Saturday — on the floor.

Covington, who has one of the best engines in all combat sports, just rammed fist after fist into his former friend's face, getting as many shots in before the referee Herb Dean called an end to the show.

It was all over.

The fight, that is. The rivalry may well go on.

But on Saturday night, Covington was announced as the rightful winner, earning a unanimous decision win with scores of 49-46, 50-54, and 50-45.

"I just took care of street trash," Covington bellowed after his win was confirmed, before calling out Dustin Poirier and calling him a "cuck" for good measure.

With victory, Covington advanced his pro MMA record to 17 wins (four knockouts, four submissions, and nine decisions) against three losses.