Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards got into a backstage scuffle earlier this year at a UFC Fight Night event in Liverpool, England following their respective wins over Darren Till and Gunnar Nelson (see it again here). Or as “Gamebred” put it, he simply gave “Rocky” a “three piece and a soda” for violating his space.
And if Ben Askren does the same in the leadup to their Welterweight collision at UFC 239 next month, he will get the same treatment.
“If Ben violates my personal space at any moment to where I feel a threat, yeah, it’s going to happen, the same thing that happened with Leon, if Leon’s across the room and I’m not doing an interview and he’s talking s**t, well whatever man, f**k it,” said Jorge during a recent interview on BJ Penn Radio.
“You’re at a safe distance, but it’s just, people have to understand it’s built into me to go into defense mode if somebody violates my personal space. I don’t know, as well as I can read body language, I really don’t know what somebody’s intentions are. I don’t know if he’s going to come over and be like, ‘boom roasted’ or some corny ass shit like that or if he’s going to try to double flip me.”
Known for having a natural talent of getting under people’s skin, it’s real easy to expect things to get a little out of hand if “Funky” crosses the line. But Jorge says if the wrestling powerhouse plays it cool, everything will be okay.
“I don’t know these things so, as long as he keeps his distance from me, ain’t going to be no problems you know? If he’s at a distance where I’m unsafe and I feel threatened, you know? Yeah, I think things will happen.”
Should the two combatants make it to fight night without any pre-fight action, “Gamebred” says “Funky” is in for a world of hurt, as he intends to drag the punishment out for as long as possible.
“I want to break Ben’s face on a personal note, you know?,” he said. “I want to hurt the dude, man, but I don’t want to take him out or anything, I just want to beat his ass for as long as I can. Beat him to an inch within his life and then let him recover and then do that again, as many times as I can, so that I utterly break him.”