The UFC 272 showdown between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal has been years in the making. So much has been said and done to turn these former best friends into enemies. There is an origin story to all the bitterness, but depending on who you ask, the versions might vary.
It started with money, specifically an alleged unfulfilled payment from Covington to Masvidal’s long-time striking coach, Paulino Hernandez, an old-school Cuban exile and pioneer of kickboxing and taekwondo back in his homeland, and member of the national team.
Hernandez largely has stayed quiet about what happened, focused only on training Masvidal and a handful of other American Top Team fighters. But with Covington and Masvial set to square off in Saturday night’s pay-per-view headliner in Las Vegas, Hernandez opened up to tell his side of the story in a recent interview with MMA Junkie.
