Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight veteran, Jorge Masvidal, used to fight in bare-knuckle boxing matches long before graduating to professional mixed martial arts (MMA), because the idea is to move up in your career and make more money.
A return to gloveless fighting seems like a step backward at this point in his career.
But UFC hall of famer, Ken Shamrock, believes that’s the only way to find out just how “bad” Masvidal can be, which is a thinly-veiled attempt to goad “Gamebred” to compete for Valor Fighting Championship, the new bare-knuckle promotion founded by Shammy.
“I don’t think we need a belt to tell people there’s a ‘BMF’ – I don’t understand that,” Shamrock told MMA Fighting. “Masvidal fought bare knuckle. He did backyard brawls just like (Kimbo Slice). So I say if that’s the case, why doesn’t he try his hand at Valor? We’d love to find out how bad he is.”
Masvidal was recently crowned “Bad Mother Fucker” after stopping Nate Diaz at UFC 244 earlier this month in New York. It was a bout that had Shamrock laughing because it did not come with many of the challenges earlier fighters faced in their careers.
While that may be true, Masvidal certainly paid his dues after nearly 50 pro fights.
The No. 3-ranked welterweight contender could be in line to battle the winner of Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington, the UFC 245 pay-per-view (PPV) main event that will put “The Nigerian Nightmare’s” strap on the line this December in Las Vegas.