Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
There’s definitely something going on behind the scenes following Gilbert Burns’ removal from his title fight with Kamaru Usman at UFC 251.
Is Jorge Masvidal going to fight Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title at UFC 251 on July 11th? Just 24 hours ago it was an absurd proposition. Then Gilbert Burns fell out of the challenger slot on Friday night after testing positive for COVID-19. Even then, few expected the UFC and Masvidal to reach an agreement fast enough to save the fight. But now, things are really heating up.
In a series of Instagram stories documenting what looks like a 4th of July party down in Florida, Masvidal’s manager Malki Kawa shared pictures of Masvidal on the phone with the caption ‘Negotiating.’ He followed this up with some videos and photos showing Jorge getting a Coronavirus test.
It looks like we could be in business, folks #UFC pic.twitter.com/ZdCyOSRJYy
— Chisanga Malata (@Chisanga_Malata) July 4, 2020
On the other side of the fight equation, we have Kamaru Usman sounding like he’s down for the fight as well:
Might be time for the Pig to squeal
— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) July 4, 2020
For those who don’t follow all the ridiculous Twitter beef between all the top UFC welterweights, Usman has referred to Masvidal as ‘the pig’ several times in past posts. So there’s suddenly a lot of evidence that the UFC is actively looking to put this fight together, and both Masvidal and Usman are on board with making it happen.
Even the hurdle to get the two to Fight Island may not be a hurdle at all. Since there are no fans in attendance, it makes no difference to anyone whether all the fights are being held in Abu Dhabi. The UFC could easily hold the majority of the card on Yas Island and then switch to Usman vs. Masvidal at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
If the UFC actually pulls this off, it would be the most impressive last minue switch up in years by a company that has made last minute switch-ups a core strategy in the face of never ending injuries and fight-cancelling SNAFUs.
What do you think, Maniacs? Is this thing going down or what?