Jorge Masvidal is expected back in court in August — although his legal team will likely present more discovery before the court ahead of that.
On Thursday, Masvidal was scheduled for a status hearing for allegations he attacked Colby Covington outside of a restaurant in Miami Beach, Fla., which took place at the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida in Miami. Masvidal’s attorneys were hoping to obtain medical records from Covington, along with the watch that was damaged in the alleged attack. In the end, each piece of discovery was gone over, with not much change. A plea was not offered during the 20-plus minutes, and Masvidal is scheduled for a plea/sounding hearing on Aug. 17 where it will be determined if a plea deal is offered and accepted, or if the situation will move to trial, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 29.
As of now, the watch is at a shop in the area getting looked at, where an invoice had been sent to attorneys, and state. Masvidal’s team will look to “impound” the watch and retain their own expert to look over the watch and evaluate the damage. According to Masvidal’s attorneys, at first look, the soon-to-be-retained expert they will bring on believed the piece could potentially be a “Frankenstein watch,” which would be a mix of new and after market parts. According to the police report, $15,000 of damage was done to Covington’s watch — which was valued at $90,000, per the report.
Covington’s team had put in a motion to strike a request from Masvidal’s team into the former UFC interim champion’s medical records, but Judge Zachary James denied the request “without prejudice.”
The incident in question occurred in March and Masvidal faces two separate felony charges related to the alleged attack against Covington. The more serious charge is aggravated battery, which according to court documents states Masvidal struck Covington with a deadly weapon that caused great bodily injury — which has now been documented as a “brain injury.”
Earlier that month, Covington defeated Masvidal via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 272 in Las Vegas.
During an April court hearing, Masvidal was issued a stay away order from Covington — which states that Masvidal must stay 25 feet away from Covington in all public places, or any vehicle the former interim champion may be traveling in, and 500 feet from Covington’s home. In addition, Masvidal may not contact Covington via phone, texting, social media, emails, or any other form of communication, or indirectly through a third party.