New audio reveals Colby Covington’s police statement about Jorge Masvidal
Unpublished audio reveals the UFC welterweight Colby Covington talking to the police and identifying jorge masvidal like the man who allegedly assaulted him outside a restaurant on the night of March 21.
The alleged incident took place outside of Papi Steakhouse in Miami Beach, Fla., resulting in Masvidal’s arrest two days later, on March 23.. He was charged with a single count of felony aggravated assault resulting in great bodily harm and criminal damage, and pleaded not guilty in writing.
The new audio, broadcast on Thursday by the YouTube channel real world police, is from Covington giving his full statement to two detectives shortly after midnight on March 22, about 90 minutes after the altercation. Covington spoke with police for nearly 9 minutes, offering his first recorded account of what occurred.
Covington said he and two friends had just finished dinner and were outside the restaurant for 3 to 5 minutes. He said that he signed autographs for some fans before deciding to leave.
“As soon as we’re about to cross the street, I get hit from the side,” Covington told police. “I get punched in the mouth too fast and I get dizzy [sic] until. I look up and see who she is. I can see in her eyes. It’s Jorge Masvidal. I see his hair coming out of his hoodie, but he’s got a mask on, a surgical mask. But he says, ‘You shouldn’t have talked about my kids, you shouldn’t have talked about my kids.’ So I was able to easily identify that that’s his voice, that’s his eyes, that’s his hair, I know exactly who he is.”
Covington accused Masvidal of taking “two quick punches.” He said he ran to Papi Steak after being punched, adding that Masvidal followed him but was stopped by security guards. Covington said he ran behind the bar, called the police and waited for him to arrive.
Covington, who defeated Masvidal by unanimous decision on March 5 at UFC 272, he told detectives about his extensive personal history with Masvidal. He stressed that this was how he was able to identify Masvidal even though his face was partially covered.
“Obviously, I just fought this guy two weeks ago in Las Vegas, Nevada for the UFC at their pay-per-view,” Covington said. “I beat him easily, so I know exactly what he looks like: his eyes, his hair, and his voice.”
When detectives asked Covington if he was injured during the alleged attack, replied: “I mean, I definitely suffered the injury to my tooth. He chipped my front tooth and threw it away. I mean, the adrenaline is still building right now, but it definitely shook me up. I saw stars a bit, but I stayed on my feet. He was just trying to get me to safety. That’s all I was worried about.”
Detectives also asked Covington to clarify comments about Masvidal’s children that he says Masvidal yelled at him after the two hits. Covington told them that he is still in a relationship with Masvidal’s children and his ex-wife, adding that Masvidal’s comments stem from trash talk during the build-up to UFC 272.
“I’m still close to family and I still like kids,” Covington said. “I was being honest. I told the honest truth. I know it’s fight promotion and anything goes when you’re trying to sell a fight, but I was telling the truth. I just said, ‘Hey, why don’t you talk to your kids? Why are you a lazy father?’”
The statement concluded with officers requesting that Covington provide documentation of the damages after repairing his chipped tooth and his Rolex watch, which was scratched during the encounter.
Masvidal has a pretrial hearing scheduled for February 15.with an anticipated trial date of February 27. If convicted, Masvidal could face up to 15 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine for second-degree felony aggravated assault with possible additional penalties for the criminal mischief charge.
You can listen to Covington’s full statement in the video above.