Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion, Conor McGregor, inserted himself into the “BMF” equation in the days leading up to the UFC 244 pay-per-view (PPV) main event earlier this month in New York City.
Even going so far as to call for a shot at the winner.
Then Jorge Masvidal sliced and diced Nate Diaz until the doctor saved the day and it suddenly went from callouts to crickets. Perhaps McGregor was more interested in a “special” rubber match against the Stockton slapper, or maybe he didn’t want to become another Picasso.
“To be quite frank, he was flirting with fighting the winner when the possibility of the winner was Nate,” Masvidal told Dan Le Batard. “And he kept throwing it out there. He even made his prediction he thought Nate would win. Since I’ve won, he hasn’t said a peep to address me or nothing.”
To be fair, UFC President Dana White is trying to protect McGregor because he’s “too small” for a savage like Masvidal. Sure, they have the same reach at 74” and have both competed at welterweight, but “Notorious” is done fighting guys “three times his size.”
“I’m not a bully, either,” Masvidal said. “I’m not going to be one of these cyber bullies. If you don’t want to fight, I don’t want to fight. If you want to fight, I’m licking my chops. Man, we’re going shopping. We’re going to do it big. You know what I’m saying? That dude don’t want it.”
McGregor might be the bigger payout, but the winner of Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington — who collide at UFC 245 next month in Las Vegas — will give Masvidal a chance to add yet another belt to his ever-growing collection.
Silence, in his case, is not golden.