Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal were once rivals as the two fought twice for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’s’ welterweight title both times.
During the build-up to both of their fights, it was full of trash-talk as the two took aim at one another. Usman ended up winning the first fight by decision, which Masvidal took on just days’ notice, while in the second time, he knocked ‘Gamebred’ out.
Although the two used to be rivals, they are friendly now as Kamaru Usman had Jorge Masvidal on his Pound 4 Pound podcast and the two showed respect to each other.
Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman show respect to each other
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Usman: My man, Jorge, first of all, thank you for the time, thank you for being here with us. We have had a past, a lot of people from the outside don’t really understand what we do as gladiators when we step in there, stepping out, we are humans and most importantly, we are men. I just want to thank you for your time.
Masvidal: We are competitors, me and you never went on the personal line. There is one guy, I won’t even mention his bitch ass name. Everybody else who I have competed against, I wish nothing but the best for them in life. I wish they go and do their thing, open up gyms or hit the lottery or whatever. One dude that I can’t stand this motherf****r, I can’t even say his name or police will show up on me.”
It is cool to see Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal share respect for each other as that is a big part of martial arts.
Kamaru Usman admits he was scared going into the first Jorge Masvidal fight
Heading into the first fight against Jorge Masvidal, which ‘Gamebred’ stepped up on just days’ notice, Kamaru Usman admits there were nerves for him.
Masvidal was coming off KO wins over Nate Diaz, Ben Askren, and Darren Till in his return to the sport. So, going into the first fight, Usman says he was afraid that ‘Gamebred’ would baptize him and KO him as he had been doing.
“I’m watching [Jorge’s] interviews, ‘I’m gonna baptize this guy’, and it gets to me,” Usman said on the podcast. “I’m like ‘Oh s***, is he gonna baptize me? What the f***?’. And I’m in the hotel, and I’m super nervous [for the fight]. Especially that moment before you go to the arena for the fight, I’m in my room like ‘Why the f*** am I so nervous right now? Get it together, get it together’… I would say that was one of the most nerve-wracking fights that I had. All the circumstances.”
Ultimately, Usman ended up winning a decision in the first fight in a rather lackluster fight. The two then had a rematch and it was Usman who won by KO.