JORGE MASVIDAL and Colby Covington's friendship was shattered by a near four-year-old pay row.
The former 'best friends' and room-mates will collide tonight in a blockbuster pay-per-view showdown at UFC 272 in Las Vegas.
The bad blood has been boiling between the pair ever since the fallout of Covington's interim welterweight title victory at UFC 225 in June 2018.
After being trained for the fight by Paulino Hernandez, Covington allegedly stiffed Masvidal’s long-time striking coach of a $12,500 cheque.
And for Masvidal – who had seen Covington transform into a WWE heel – that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
He told ESPN: "I was already like, let me start separating myself from this guy little by little, and then, ‘Bam!’
"Before I could even like fully (separate), he betrayed my coach.
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“Didn’t pay him the money that was agreed upon and I knew since then I’m gonna hurt this guy.”
According to Hernandez – who received $5,000 of a promised $17,500 paycheque – he cut all ties with Covington when it became apparent he wouldn't be paid in full.
He told MMA Junkie: “Jorge told me, ‘Hey, look. (Covington is) telling me that he’s going to be getting a lot of money and that it’s going to be too much money for you.’
"(Masvidal) told me that (Covington) didn’t want to pay. I told him I’d still finish the job with him, that I’d do the final training. I wanted him to be champion.
“I mean, we’re talking about the same gym. The gym is always looking to add new champions.
"He’s a good fighter and had a good opportunity to put on a good showing. I knew he was going to win the interim title.
“We still worked with him, and we gave him the opportunity.
"When it came down to paying, to reflect, and come with the agreed sum, he didn’t do it. So from there, that’s when things ended.”
Covington has hit back at Masvidal and Hernandez’s claims, insisting his purse for UFC 225 was a fraction of the disclosed figure.
He told ESPN: "That night that I made that paycheque, I got paid of what that said. The commission said I made double what I said.
"I got paid half [of] that [disclosed purse."
Since his snub of Hernandez, Covington has repeatedly taken shots at Masvidal in the media and online.
But Covington’s incineration of their friendship didn’t come as a surprise to the UFC’s BMF champion.
He said: "I would see signs in the way he treated his family, the way he talked about his sister, the way he talked about his mum.
“There’s three sides to every story: there’s yours, theirs, and the truth. So, I was just like, this guy’s interesting.
“Tyron Woodley brought him out. He was giving him like $1,000 a week, something crazy like that when this guy was an amateur just to train with him for four weeks.
“Sponsors, food, and then he just came back talking s*** about Woodley in a negative way.”
Masvidal will be cornered by Hernandez and fellow long-time coach Mike Brown for the Battle of Miami, which he’s going into with vicious intentions.
He said: "I'm doing it for him (Hernandez) and I'm doing it for me. This guy's a b***h and I can't wait to prove it tomorrow."
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