Jorge Masvidal has detailed how his friendship with Colby Covington morphed into a bitter and hateful rivalry. 

The pair are preparing to fight in the main event of UFC 272 and the build-up is expected to be as full of drama as the contest itself. 

Covington and Masvidal used to train and live together when they were both part of American Top Team, but 'Gamebred' says he was already distancing himself from 'Chaos' before he left the gym. 

He told MMA Junkie: 'I would see signs in the way he treated his family, the way he talked about his sister, the way he talked about his mom. There’s three sides to every story: there’s yours, theirs, and the truth. So, I was just like, this guy’s interesting.

'Tyron Woodley brought him out. He was giving him like $1,000 a week, something crazy like that when this guy was an amateur just to train with him for four weeks. Sponsors, food, and then he just came back talking sh** about Woodley in a negative way. 

Masvidal says the straw that broke the camels back was when Covington 'betrayed' their coach. 

He went on: 'I was already like, let me start separating myself from this guy little by little, and then, ‘Bam!’ Before I could even like fully (separate), he betrayed my coach. 

'Didn’t pay him the money that was agreed upon and I knew since then I’m gonna hurt this guy.'

And the 37-year-old will arrive at their showdown on March 5 with vicious intentions in what promises to be an epic five-round clash. 

'I’m hoping that the referee, on the way to pulling me off of him, slips on a banana peel and I get some extra shots in and really change his life and his face structure,' he warned.

Both he and Covington lost their previous fights against the welterweight champion Kamaru Usman but are desperate to earn another shot at the pound-for-pound king after putting their rival to the sword.