Chael Sonnen credits Jorge Masvidal for accepting 'career-ending fight' with Colby Covington

Chael Sonnen says Jorge Masvidal deserves props for taking a fight with Colby Covington.

Former best friends turned enemies will finally settle their rivalry at UFC 272 on March 5 in Las Vegas, and Sonnen sees Covington (16-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) as a very risky fight for Masvidal (35-15 MMA, 12-8 UFC).

Masvidal is coming off back-to-back title-fight losses to UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, but his star power remains evident. For the second time in his UFC career, “BMF” champion Masvidal will be headlining a non-title pay-per-view event, but Sonnen thinks a third straight loss would be detrimental for him.

“In all fairness, I’ve really got to show respect to Masvidal because this is a career-ending fight,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “It is that big of a deal. There will be that much attention and that much focus and that much hatred going into this battle that Jorge – who is the second biggest draw in combat right now, who’s coming off of two defeats – if he goes out there and he gets taken down and he gets mauled for 25 minutes, it is going to take a lot of luster off of the shine that is the second biggest draw, the BMF, Jorge Masvidal.

“It’s a big deal, and Jorge signed up anyway. God damn, I respect that.”

In many ways, Covington is in a similar predicament to Masvidal. Having also lost to Usman twice, the former interim welterweight champ will need to get past Masvidal if he wants to keep his title hopes alive.