Covington-Masvidal to headline UFC 272

UFC 272 has a new main event.

The long-awaited grudge match between former welterweight title challengers Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal will headline the March 5 pay-per-view card in Las Vegas, UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell told ESPN's Brett Okamoto.

Contracts have reportedly not yet been signed, but the fight is nearly finalized.

A featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway was scheduled to headline the event, but Holloway withdrew last week due to injury. Volkanovski has reportedly since been moved to UFC 273 in April.

Covington and Masvidal are both coming off losses to UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Covington suffered a unanimous decision defeat in November, while Masvidal was knocked out in one of the highlights of 2021 last April.

Covington and Masvidal, ranked No. 1 and No. 6 at welterweight, respectively, used to train together at American Top Team in Florida but had a falling out in recent years.