Last Saturday night, in the main event of UFC London, Jorge Masvidal burst into title contention with a stunning knockout of Darren Till. The knockout was so impressive that Ali Abdelaziz, who manages UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman, now wants his fighter to take on Masvidal next instead of Colby Covington.
“We think Jorge Masvidal deserves the next title shot,” Abdelaziz told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. “Not Colby Covington. Colby is a terrible person and doesn’t deserve it. Jorge just knocked out Darren Till like that? He should be next.”
This comment from Ali Abdelaziz first got a response from Ben Askren, who reminded that Jorge Masvidal’s thunderous knockout win was preceded by a pair of losses.
“Lololol his last win before Till was a January 2017,” Askren wrote. “Ali you are a fool, if Marty doesn’t want to fight Colby I would happily oblige.”
Abdelaziz then responded, explaining why he thinks Jorge Masvidal deserves a title shot.
“Masvidal [finishes] his people Look at his whole entire career he deserve it,” he wrote.
Okamoto also reached out to Colby Covington for comment. The brash welterweight responded in classic fashion.
”Nah but nothing would surprise me with that little terrorist rat after hearing from my people about how desperate he has looked the last couple weeks begging for anyone to fight Snoozeman except (me) the most deserving and Real World Champion!” Covington wrote (via MMA Mania). “I don’t blame him though because he knows I’m going to smash his meal ticket!”
The key detail in all of this, of course, is that Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal are long-time friends and training partners who happen to be closing in on a welterweight title shot at the exact same time.
Who do you think deserves a shot first?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 3/17/2019.