Jorge Masvidal is not going to fight for free, but taking revenge on a loss and becoming a UFC champion is more important to him than earning a bigger salary right now.
After losing a unanimous decision to welterweight king Kamaru Usman at UFC 251, Masvidal wants nothing more than the chance to face him again.
The fight took place just six days in advance after Gilbert Burns was forced to drop the card due to a positive test for COVID-19. Masvidal stepped forward and struck a deal with the UFC, but ultimately fell short on the night of the fight.
Now he would like nothing more than to have a full training camp and an immediate rematch with Usman.
“Usman obviously, it’s obvious,” Masvidal told ESPN when asked what he ideally wants next. “Usman. Could you offer me bigger names and pay me more money? Yes. As a matter of fact. But it is up to me, Usman. For me stepping up six days in advance when no one else would. Because many people say they would, but Who else did it? Who else really asked? [UFC President] Dana [White]? Who else really said, ‘Hey, if Masvidal doesn’t do it, I’ll do it, I’m here, I’m ready to do it, let’s do it.’
“If it’s up to me, of course, Usman right away. I don’t care if they could offer me a bigger fight or not. I’d like to fight Usman. “
Masvidal’s biggest fight would be a showdown with former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor, who technically retired for the third time in June.
Despite declaring his intention to retire, McGregor has made that promise before. For one reason or another, he returned to the octagon. A fight against Masvidal could serve as the exact type of motivation to lure him back to the UFC.
For his part, Masvidal appreciates the extra zeros that would be added to his bank account for a McGregor fight. But if given a choice, he would take Usman’s rematch without hesitation.
“You could tell me that McGregor would win X, Y, Z dollars right now, the largest pay-per-view event in history, and they will pay me forever,” Masvidal explained. “I feel like I’ve been compensated enough now, that I keep making the right decisions that I’ve been making, so this money is money forever. So it’s not about money. It’s about I want that damn belt and I’m stubborn. I know I’m better than Usman and I want to show it. I want to fight again. I will not take anything from him. The first one won. Let’s do it again. That’s.
“After that, we can start with what comes next, but Usman is what I love the most. Immediate rematch is Usman to me now.
UFC 251 reportedly sold around 1.3 million purchases, and Masvidal confirmed that his fight salary will be the most lucrative of his career.
He knows Usman also benefited from pay-per-view sales, which adds more fuel to the fire for a possible rematch.
“I am sure Usman would be on board because this was the most money he made,” Masvidal said. “Your other pay per view [against Colby Covington]And this is just talking about numbers, facts, so it is not about trying or anything, but in reality it is true. His last real UFC [pay-per-view] he had similar types on the card: Max Holloway, Volkanovski, things like that, the same similar formula. I was not added to that formula, and that card did not work as well. I think that card had less than 300,000 [buys], something like that.
“Now this card does this well, I’m not trying to hit anyone on the card or anything. But there must be some recipe that is different from that other letter. He has a brain, he knows that part of that credit is probably due to me. So if you want to win that money again, come on, we have to get it back. Let’s go. So in business it makes sense. ”
After returning home from Abu Dhabi on Monday, Masvidal said he was already riding his bike and exercising in the gym to burn off some of the frustration of his loss last weekend.
When it comes to the time of his next fight, Masvidal was not ready to commit to anything yet, but added “as long as he is Usman”, he would absolutely compete again in 2020.
