“He don’t want this sh**. You know he doesn’t want this sh**.”
Eating away on a pizza roll, with the ‘BMF’ belt resting beside him, Jorge Masvidal reflected on what has been a year of fortunes changed and fortune blooming.
The Florida native is 34-years-old and has just fought his 38th MMA contest but he has never been more in demand and relevant.
In May 2017, Masvidal went into a fight against Damien Maia knowing that victory would get him a shot at then-welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. He lost that one via decision and would lose to Stephen Thompson, later that year, at UFC 217.
That dropped his career record to 32-13 and sparked a period of introspection and training changes. He did not fight from November 2017 until March 2019 but Masvidal, when he did return, came back with a bang.
Darren Till was KO’ed over in London and Ben Askren was on the receiving end of the UFC’s fastest knock-out when Masvidal connected with a flying knee to his skull. Nate Diaz teed up a bout for what he claimed to be his ‘Baddest Motherf*****’ belt. UFC president Dana White duly approved and the new belt was sanctioned.
Jorge Masvidal is awarded the belt by Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson after his victory by TKO on a medical stoppage against Nate Diaz in the Welterweight “BMF” championship bout during UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)Diaz and Masvidal were serving up full-on war, at UFC 244, when a serious, gaping cut to the eyebrow of the Californian forced a doctor’s stoppage at the end of round three. Masvidal was given his new belt and is surely the leading contender to take the winner of the UFC 245 headliner between reigning 170lbs champ Kamaru Usman and challenger Colby Covington.
With Usman vs. Covington happening next month – December 15 – a relatively fresh Masvidal could make himself a mint, in the mean-time, by taking on Conor McGregor.
He will readily step up, if that is the fight presented to him, but Masvidal predicts a whole world of pain for the Dubliner should he step into his realm. He told reporters:
“Some of you motherf***ers are mean because you know what the f*** I’ll do to that little dude. I’ll f*** that little guy up. He’s a f***ing midget.
“Dana White, president of this motherf***ing company said I’m too much man for him. I get it why people want to see him hurt for the stunts he’s been pulling, but he don’t want this sh*t.
“He’s just talking so he can get his name out there. He was cheering for Nate. He wanted to run it back with Nate.”
White had previously remarked that Masvidal was too big for McGregor, stating that ‘The Notorious’ should focus on the lightweight division. That prompted a rapid-fire response from the Dubliner, who contested that claim. McGregor teased that he was about to start feeding himself up for his third tilt at a welterweight bout.
Hey @BurgerKing, could I get a 3 piece with soda and a side chicken box please? Loads of salt and vinegar. Thanks
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) November 3, 2019
McGregor is more likely to face Justin Gaethje or Donald Cerrone at UFC 246, next January, but he may be tempted to try wrest that ‘BMF’ belt from Masvidal.
“That dude ain’t retarded,” Masvidal retorted. “You see he punches old people in the face cause those are fights that he could win.”
That, of course, was a reference to McGregor’s April assault of a patron at the Marble Arch pub, for which he plead guilty to in court last week.
“He don’t want this sh**,” Jorge Masvidal continued. “You know he doesn’t want this sh**. Dana and them might try to promote it, [but] I don’t even think Dana is going to promote that fight, because you can’t get that guy to sign a paper.”
