Colby Covington bested Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision at UFC 272.
With another main event setback, Masvidal extends his losing streak to three straight.
Most fighters would be on the chopping block at this point but “Gamebred” seems to have nothing to worry about with ink still drying on the new deal he signed with the organization ahead of UFC 272.
“Regardless Jorge is still going to be a big name,” Hooker said on The AllStar MMA Live. “He can go back and do the [Nate Diaz] fight. He can call out Conor McGregor and fight Conor McGregor. Still has pay-per-view in his future. That’s just the guy he is because people like him for who he is.”
Throughout fight week, there was a lot of talk about Covington not earning pay-per-view points whereas Masvidal was filling his pockets. The Oregon native expressed during the post-fight press conference that the fight wasn’t about the money, he wanted to settle a bitter score and he did successfully.
Always calculated and premediated, Covington had his scope set on Dustin Poirier immediately after the scorecards were read inside the Octagon at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“He just calling out another guy that sells pay-per-views,” Hooker said. “That’s another pay-per-view opportunity for him to build his brand. Regardless of what you think about his character, he is very aware of what he is doing and how he is trying to set it up.
“He’s still not in that position to be one of those guys to get pay-per-view points. There’s only a handful of guys in the UFC that are not titleholders…there’s even a lot of titleholders that don’t get pay-per-view. And you can look at that as Jorge, Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier I believe and that’s it.
“I get it. There’s like the personal beef there. He gets to build his brand. That’s like another ex-teammate he already knows and understands his game.”
While the familiar storyline exists here with former ATT teammates clashing, Poirier is still in another weight category. A few options are still out there for Covington at welterweight.
The most intriguing could hang on the outcome of the high stakes contest between Khamzat Chimaev and Gilbert Burns at UFC 273.
“I feel like if Khamzat wins they could give him a title shot if that show goes back to Abu Dhabi,” Hooker quipped. “I feel like with a Burns win, then they’d do Covington-Burns.
“I know there’s an event. [UFC] going back to Abu Dhabi. They have a contract agreement with Abu Dhabi.”
