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Jorge Masvidal hints at a showdown with boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr.
UFC president Dana White revealed last week that Conor McGregor is gunning for a ‘BMF’ title fight with Jorge Masvidal but, according to a recent interview with TMZ Sports, ‘Gamebred’ has his sights set on with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Masvidal, who has quickly become one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster, said a boxing match with ‘The Best Ever’ is the ‘lottery ticket’ he has been waiting for his entire career.
“(McGregor) is one of the lottery tickets we’re possibly going to cash on in. It’s not the biggest lottery ticket, but it’s one of the lottery ticket,” Masvidal said (h/t BJPenn.com).
“Me versus Mayweather. I want cash money. I got children and those children got needs. I love to fight and one of my first loves growing up was boxing, and then I fell in love with wrestling and then UFC came about. And I was like, ‘Wow, I can do them both of them at the same damn time.’ I fell in love with the UFC and that’s all I’ve done, the MMA. But I can box my ass off.
“Not saying I’m a better boxer than Mayweather but man, I’m gonna be in there with bad intentions trying to hurt him. I’m a well-conditioned athlete who’s not going to fade. I’m not going to fade in the eighth of ninth round (like McGregor). I’m going to be there for the whole night. I want to get into the biggest, toughest, roughest fights that I possibly can and make a paycheck for them as well, get compensated for my skills.”
Masvidal said Mayweather (50-0) has earned the right to now pick and choose his opponents, but that, if he wants a real challenge and a good enough reason to get up and train in the morning, ‘Money’ should consider his offer.
“If you’re looking for a fight, I’m right here. If you’re looking for an easy paycheck, then go back to Japan and beat up those little guys,” Masvidal said. “If you want to fight a guy like Khabib Nurmagomedov who doesn’t know how to box, if he wants to fight that guy, I get it, man. Mayweather has paid his dues, he can do whatever the hell he wants. If he wants something he has to get up for early in the morning, train in the morning, train at night, that’s me, man. If you want something easy man, then yeah, get the other dudes.”
Masvidal battered Nate Diaz to win the BMF title at UFC 244 and is ranked #3 in the UFC welterweight rankings.