Daniel Cormier has urged Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal to avoid fighting with 'emotion' this weekend, as the UFC legend claimed it will be 'hard' for Chaos to bounce back should he suffer defeat by Gamebred.

Covington, 34, and Masvidal, 37, meet at UFC 272 to settle their friends-turned-foes rivalry in what has been labelled the biggest grudge match in UFC history.

Cormier, 41, is all too experienced when it comes to bitter rivalries, having endured a volatile relationship with light-heavyweight rival Jon Jones. The pair met twice between 2015 and 2017, with Jones winning the first bout and the second being ruled a no contest.

Now, the UFC legend says fighting with angst 'doesn't help' and insists that allowing emotions to enter your mindset is 'not going to be to your advantage'. 

'It doesn't help. You know, it's okay if you're fighting in the streets, but when you've got 25 minutes to operate, fighting evil and with emotion is not going to be to your advantage,' he exclusively told Sportsmail.

'You have to compartmentalise all the bad feelings you have for your opponent and allow for it to be viewed as sport. Because what has made both these men so successful is that they know how to fight, but it's not always contentious. 

'Sometimes they fight for sport, fighting as a sport is much easier than fighting with pure emotion.' 

The verbal tirades have been relentless from both sides in the build up to this weekend's showdown. As a result, the loser will lose considerable face in the public eye.

Yet Cormier believes that the stakes are far higher for Covington, whose heel act has made him a divisive figure among fans. For Masvidal, his status as a fan-favourite will soften the blow of potential defeat.  

'It's a hard situation. It's going to be very difficult for the guy that ends up on the wrong end of this fight,' Cormier, a Monster Energy athlete, added. 'Here's the thing, Masvidal goes into the fight as the underdog. 

'But Masvidal has this following, and he has this thing about him that means the losses aren't as devaluing as it is for other fighters because people seem to have this connection to him, so I think the pressure is on Covington. 

'If he loses now, he is not longer viewed as the next best anymore. For a while he's been considered as the number one challenger to Kamaru Usman, but not if he loses to Jorge Masvidal. 

'I don't believe that he has the fan support that Jorge Masvidal does, where they can almost ignore the losses. Certain guys have that. But Colby is who he is because he wins, and he must win this fight.'

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