Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Jorge Masvidal is confident the outcome will be different in a fight against Kamaru Usman if he has a full training camp under his belt. But despite coming up short against “The Nigerian Nightmare” at UFC 251 in a fight “Gamebred” took on six days notice (see it again here), he isn’t taking anything away from the Welterweight champion, saying he was simply better.
“I want that damn belt, and I’m stubborn. And I know I’m better than Usman, and I want to prove it. I want to fight again,” Masvidal said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show via ESPN. “I’m not going to take nothing from him — he won the first one. Let’s do it again.”
Usman won a clear-cut unanimous decision this past weekend (Sat., July 11, 2020) on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, though it seems the 170-pound kingpin did have some newfound respect for Masvidal after the fight.
And while UFC president Dana White did state that Gilbert Burns would get next crack at trying to dethrone Usman, Masvidal wants his chance to do it all over right away after discovering the blueprint following a 25-minute war with the champ.
And while the last thing he wants to do is step on anyone’s toes, Masvidal says that the rematch makes sense business-wise for all parties involved.
“We’ll talk to [the UFC]. I’m sure Usman would be onboard, because this is the most money he’s made,” he said. “So if he wants to make that big-boy money again, gotta run it back, come on, let’s go. So in business that makes sense. I don’t know what his management is thinking or what he’s thinking, but obviously that’s what I want to do.”
While official salaries have not been released, Masvidal did score a pay raise to step up and face “The Nigerian Nightmare” on short notice after Burns was forced out due to testing positive for COVID-19. And if he managed to get in on the pay-per-view (PPV) points, “Gamebred” is about to get a whole lot richer in the coming weeks thanks to UFC 251’s stellar early PPV buy rate (details).
While initial reports had Jorge signing a multi-fight deal, he revealed that isn’t actually the case, as he is still locked in to his old contract and the salary he gets for UFC 251 was a one-off to face Usman, which means it will be back to the negotiating table in the near future.
Furthermore, Masvidal says even if Dana White and Co. managed to offer him a bigger fight against Conor McGregor or even a Nate Diaz rematch, he would rather challenge Usman one more time.
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