Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal is currently ranked No. 3 on the 170-pound ladder and could be next in line for a crack at the division crown after winning — and finishing — his last three fights.
But has “Gamebred” finally realized his potential, or was he simply the beneficiary of favorable matchmaking?
That depends on who you ask. Critics will argue how Darren Till dropped him, Ben Askren was all bark and no bite, and Nate Diaz was just a belt-less journeyman, which is why reigning welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, hasn’t been overly impressed with Masvidal’s trail of destruction.
“I wouldn’t say [I’ve been] impressed,” Usman told MMA Fighting. “Because it’s Masvidal, nothing’s changed. He’s the same guy. He’s fought the same way forever. It’s just the luck of the draw. He’s getting that luck of the draw. I’ve yet to see him fight a full-on welterweight from start to finish and completely dominate them. Then at that point I can say this is a different guy.”
Masvidal (35-13) went 1-3 in 2017 with losses to Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson.
“He’s got a lot of hype right now, and he’s been in this sport for a long, long time,” Usman said. “But at the end of the day, does it really matter that you have all that hype if you never get to the pinnacle of the sport? I like the fact that that he has all this hype. It brings a lot of eyes. So if he does make it to me and that fight is made, I would actually be very, very interested in that.”
If Usman is going to fight Masvidal, he’ll first need to dispose of former interim welterweight champion, Colby Covington, in the UFC 245 pay-per-view (PPV) main event next month inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Perhaps then he’ll get to see firsthand how impressive “Gamebred” can be.