It’s not too often that the UFC headlines pay-per-views with non-title fights, but March 5th will be an exception.

UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington will take on ex-teammate Jorge Masvidal in the main event of UFC 272 in Las Vegas. As is standard for main events across UFC shows, this will be five rounds.

Masvidal (35-15) is coming off consecutive defeats to champion Kamaru Usman, with the first one coming by decision at UFC 251 before a violent second-round KO at UFC 261 last April. His last win was a doctor stoppage TKO of Nate Diaz in 2019, when the ‘BMF’ title was at stake in the UFC 244 main event. Masvidal was scheduled to face Leon Edwards at UFC 269 before pulling out with injury.

Covington (16-3) is also 0-2 against the reigning king of the welterweight division, having just lost a decision to Usman at UFC 268 in New York. In between the two Usman losses he won a lopsided fight over Tyron Woodley, who was unable to continue with a rib injury in the fifth round. Covington holds notable wins over Rafael dos Anjos, Demian Maia, and former champion Robbie Lawler.

News of Masvidal vs. Covington getting top billing at UFC 272 comes on the heels of Ariel Helwani’s recent report that Alexander Volkanovski vs. Chan Sung Jung and Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan will be shifted to UFC 273 in April.

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