UFC fighter and commentator Anthony Smith thinks Jorge Masvidal's hate for Colby Covington ended up being his downfall.
Masvidal fell to his former friend turned bitter rival Covington in the UFC 272 main event via a unanimous decision. It was a culmination of bad blood and personalized trash talk that had built for months leading up to the fight.
Covington went as far as invoking Masvidal's personal life, specifically his ex-wife and children, into the mental warfare. This appeared to amp the intensity even more during fight week.
After the fight, Masvidal explained that he felt "flat" with his wrestling and that it was a major factor in his loss. This prompted critiques from ESPN's Stephen A. Smith and others on his post-fight comments.
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"I could tell all week that there was something off," Smith said of Masvidal. "But I thought that it was just a big fight, he hates him or whatever. But there was something off all week and I couldn't put my finger on it. So I didn't talk about it on the pre-fight show all week long because I couldn't really figure out what it was.
"But I figured it out afterwards after seeing him fight. He talked about being flat, but I think he was so mentally and emotionally exhausted from his absolute hate and rage. That kind of anger and hate, even if you're holding it in and you're not letting it come out in your fight style, that's so much stress. And it's exhausting, it's mentally and emotionally exhausting, and that's always gonna kinda transfer to your fight style and to your own conditioning. I think he hated him too much. "
Covington hasn't backed away from trash-talking Masvidal in the aftermath of their fight. He recently used Masvidal's pre-fight "headline" prediction against him in an Instagram post.
Masvidal has squashed speculation that he may opt to retire after the loss to Covington. He seems intent on a rematch with Covington down the line and returning to the magic he found in 2019.
Do you agree with Anthony Smith's take on Jorge Masvidal?