LAS VEGAS – Then tension between former roommates and now bitter rivals Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington is undeniable, but “Gamebred” wants to make one thing very clear: This fight isn’t personal.

“Since I signed on to fight professionally at 18, and I knew since I did that journey that nothing would be like on the personal level, reason being fight night, nothing’s personal man, and still nothing is personal,” Masvidal told The Underground at Wednesday’s media day at the UFC Apex. “This is as close as it gets to personal, this one individual that I’m going to break his face shortly, but there’s nothing personal.”

Masvidal (35-15 MMA, 12-8 UFC) and Covington (16-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) headline Saturday’s UFC 272 event, which streams live on ESPN+ pay-per-view from T-Mobile Arena. While the two were once close friends, Covington has gone scorched earth in the buildup to this fight, labeling Masvidal a “deadbeat dad” and a “deadbeat person” and suggesting that he is “out there cheating on his wife, cheating on his kids.”

The lingering question surrounding many of Covington’s recent grudge matches has centered around just how genuine the rivalries are and how much of it is simply a marketing tactic. Masvidal doesn’t seem to really care, admitting he’s going to enjoy the opportunity to lay hands on Covington, and he also points out that “Chaos” won’t earn any pay-per-view revenue share for the matchup anyway.

“Not only do I fight for a living and I get to punch people in the face, but every once in a while I get to punch somebody in the face that I really don’t like, and I get paid for it, so on that end I love it,” Masvidal said. “You know that he’s like the worst selling pay-per-view performer in in the whole division, and I’m going to just sort of upcrease his namesake, you know? But at the same time, I’m going to send him to the hospital, Ben Askren style, so what’s good? And then he doesn’t get pay-per-view, so it’s really like a lose-lose. He’s going to get his flat fee and all that, but he doesn’t get pay-per-views, so it’s like, f*ck you three times, you know?”

Still, Covington’s pre-fight trashtalk goes well beyond typical pre-fight banter, and Masvidal does take issue with the subject matter and believes it’s important to set a precedent that there is a line to respect. 

“I take it as legit, like, ‘I’m going to f*ck you up,’” Masvidal said. “Like I said, nothing’s personal, but this is as close as it comes to it. For many reasons, I want to hurt this guy like I’ve never hurt nobody before. One, he’s talking about my kids. 

“Kids, religion, people’s wives, I think that’s beneath us. Let other people, other sports do that. We don’t need to do that. When it’s two men getting in that cage or two women getting in that cage, you don’t do it. We’re going to fight and we’re going to find out. If you want to talk crap about me about my speed, my reflexes, I get all that, but what do my kids have to do with it?”

Covington had similar exchanges with his previous opponent, reigning UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, though microphones picked up on him trying to explain away the talk as pure marketing once the fight ended. Masvidal doesn’t anticipate that being the case this weekend.

Even it isn’t personal, Masvidal isn’t planning on entertaining any attempts at making amends. 

“He knows me, like through and through; he would never dare do that,” Masvidal said. “He wouldn’t get close to me in any circumference or anything like that. He wouldn’t put himself at a chance where I could end his ass again, you know, especially because he’s talked about my kids. My kids don’t do a pay-per-view sell. Like people ain’t, ‘Oh, he’s talking about his kids. I’m really going to tune in now.’ 

“You know, he talked about Usman’s dad. I don’t know how many times he called him all types of things. Usman’s mom, and then you’re going to say, ‘It’s just business. I’m selling pay-per-view. I love you, bro.’ When he had said for months, ‘I’ll never shake this guy’s hand,’ that shows how much of a coward he is, what a snake he is. He’ll say whatever and whenever, and then when the light’s on him and when it’s time to be a man about it, he does what he does. You know, I can’t respect him in any way, shape or form.”