Jorge Masvidal says he has no interest in fighting Conor McGregor.
Jorge Masvidal’s last two performances in the Octagon have been losing efforts to UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. The first of those happened on short notice for UFC 251 last year and resulted in a unanimous decision defeat. The second happened in April, at UFC 261, and ended with a thunderous KO from ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’.
Masvidal recently spoke to MMA Junkie about what’s next for him. He told that outlet that he is only interested in getting back into title contention at 170 lbs.
“The guy that gets me the closest and the fastest to the title bout (is who I want to fight next),” he said. Gamebred added that this requirement means that Conor McGregor is not an option for him right now.
When asked directly about McGregor, Masvidal scoffed.
“I’m full man size. He’s like a very small, fragile dude. He don’t want that. You can’t pay that man enough money, so that one’s OK. Don’t need it.”
Masvidal, who was riding a three fight winning streak over Nate Diaz, Ben Askren and Darren Till before his losses to Usman, said that in the next two weeks he and the UFC should agree on his next opponent.
Masvidal’s take on the McGregor match-up seems to be one shared, in part, by UFC President Dana White. Last month Masvidal’s manager Malki Kawa revealed that White has never been a fan of a potential Masvidal vs. McGregor fight because “Masvidal is too big for him.”
McGregor has fought in the UFC at featherweight, lightweight and welterweight. Most recently, at lightweight, he was defeated by Dustin Poirier. McGregor took two losses to ‘The Diamond’ this year, dropping his record against the Louisianian to 1-2.
Before those two losses to Poirier, McGregor beat Donald Cerrone. That fight, in January 2020, was McGregor first bout since losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov for the title in October 2018.
McGregor is currently recovering from a broken leg suffered in his second loss to Poirier.