Former two-time undisputed welterweight champion, Jorge Masvidal has claimed he netted in excess of $5,000,000 for his efforts at UFC 251, despite suffering a decision loss to arch-rival, Kamaru Usman in the pair’s first title fight.
Masvidal, a promotional alum and a two-fight title challenger at the welterweight limit, is slated to make his return to combat sports at the beginning of June, taking on fellow organizational veteran, Nate Diaz in a 10-round professional boxing rematch.
Departing the UFC following a fourth consecutive loss in a decision defeat to Gilbert Burns last year in his native Miami, Masvidal has since vowed to make a return to the promotion in search of one final run following his June clash with Diaz inside the squared circle.
Jorge Masvidal reveals huge payday for UFC 251 short-notice fight
Twice challenging for undisputed welterweight spoils – the most recent of which at UFC 261 in ‘The Sunshine State’, Masvidal suffered a thunderous second round KO loss to former pound-for-pound number one, Usman, however, claims he landed a lucrative payday for his efforts the first time around – in the region of $5,000,000.
“… I had to get paid,” Jorge Masvidal told VLADTV about accepting a short-notice fight with Kamaru Usman at UFC 251. “And I had to get paid very f*cking handsomely for doing this. So, they [the UFC] gave into all my demands that I had.”
“That’s one of the fights that I made the most money, period,” Jorge Masvidal explained. “Because we ended up settling at right under 1,300,000 pay-per-views [buys]. If I hadn’t struck that deal with the UFC, I wouldn’t have got nowhere near $5,000,000 – I would’ve sold the same amount and got nowhere near $5,000,000. And I would’ve just felt like I got taken advantage of, so the part of me – the business side of me, the prize fighter side of me was very much satisfied and happy.”
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