Masvidal knows a fight against McGregor would be huge. He also believes ‘The Notorious’ will never sign a contract to fight him.
Jorge Masvidal returns to action at UFC 287 against Gilbert Burns this weekend (Sat., April 8, 2023) in Miami, Fla., and it feels like “Gamebred” stands at a career crossroads with this fight.
If he wins, he re-establishes himself as a force at Welterweight and positions himself for a title shot against current 170-pound champion, Leon Edwards. If he loses, it’ll be four defeats in a row, potential division irrelevancy.
It would be a shame to see Masvidal walk away now that there’s several big money fights on the horizon for him. He has history with Edwards, and that’s a huge fight. He’s also got enough beef with Conor McGregor to start a hamburger stand. A fight between the two would be one of the biggest match-ups of the year.
“From that perspective of us breaking records, I think 100 percent,” Masvidal said when asked about a McGregor fight by TMZ. “I’ve sold, myself, 1.3 million pay-per-views. And Conor? The story goes without saying. Just 1.3 in one night, me against Usman, the first one. So, it’s definitely just a mathematician promoter’s dream, you know? It’s a dream fight for a promoter.
“But UFC can’t get him to sign the dotted line,” he continued. “I think in many ways, I’m really really bad for Conor’s style and brand. Because I’m not going to take him down and see what he smells like. I’m going to beat the f—ing piss out of him standing. I’m going to make him quit, stand-up. I’m going to take his shots, laugh at him, and give ‘em right back and break him, you know?
“I know that he knows that,” Masvidal added. “He’s said it, Dana’s said it. I’m a bigger, stronger, meaner guy. So … I can’t put a gun to his head to sign. That dude ain’t trying to get in there with me. He knows, we’ve had some similar opponents where I’ve dismantled them and he’s took them to decision, so. Especially at 170. He’s like Fun Sized and I’m the real deal.”
Masvidal vs. Burns goes down in the co-main slot of UFC 287 inside Miam-Dade Arena. Headlining the pay-per-view (PPV) card: a Middleweight title fight rematch between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 287 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
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