Title challenger Gilbert Burns has responded to comments made by Jorge Masvidal regarding his pay for the upcoming title fight between him and teammate Kamaru Usman.
In a video, on his YouTube channel, Jorge Masvidal offered his comments on the fight that was initially supposed to see him challenge for the title in place of Burns.
“They offered me considerably less money than what I should be getting, and it didn’t work, then they offer (Burns) the least amount of money that they would take. That’s what they did. They offered me, then when I said no, they offered a couple of other people until they got to Gilbert.”
“Gilbert wasn’t their first thing. Nobody on a worldwide scale knows him. I’m not dissing his skillset, but he’s not a known guy, so of course, he took the lowest money possible to fight a title.”
Speaking to MMAFighting Burns shared that he was happy with the money he will receive for this upcoming bout.
“They offered me a great amount of money,” Burns said. “More money than a lot of guys get fighting for the title. I’m happy about my situation. But I’m putting myself in that position to get those fights.”
“I understand Masvidal’s side, he wants more money. But I think it all comes down to management. If you just signed a deal, how come you going to ask for a new deal? It just doesn’t make sense. I think it’s all in the negotiations.”
Burns is referring to Masvidal recently renewing his contract with the UFC before asking for more money to take the fight against Usman at UFC 251. Currently, Masvidal has no scheduled return to the octagon but says he is interested in the rematch with Nate Diaz.
“Of course I would love to fight with Nate, just because I didn’t get to put him to sleep how I wanted to.”
Who would you like to see Masvidal return against?