With a lengthy resume dating back to early 2000s era of MMA, UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal may finally be fighting for a title shot in the world’s biggest MMA outfit when he meets surging No. 3 competitor Demian Maia on the main card of May 13’s massive UFC 211 event from Dallas, Texas.
If ‘Gambred’ can shock the MMA world and hand Maia his first loss since February of 2014, he could potentially find himself in a welterweight title bout against champion and American Top Team (ATT) stablemate Tyron Woodley, whom he used to train with in Coconut Creek, Florida. However, none of that is even close to guaranteed with Conor McGregor lurking in the shadows of an uncertain fighting future.
Regardless, if and when Masvidal does get lucky enough to face “The Chosen One” for the belt, he’s willing to battle his ATT teammate. “Gamebred” told Submission Radio (courtesy of Bloody Elbow) that he’s known Woodley since his days as a lightweight, where the champ helped him refine his wrestling skills:
“I’ve known Woodley for nine-plus years, ten-plus years. We’ve worked out together plenty. He’s one of the guys who used to slam me all around the place. I was at 155, he was at 170 pounds and he was just the wrestler that is a superpower. So that was one of the dudes that got my wrestling a little better from going with guys like that. He knows where my strengths are, I know where his strengths are.”
But with Woodley now training almost exclusively with Milwaukee’s Roufusport (even though he does own an ATT affiliate gym in his native St. Louis), Masvidal revealed n a recent interview on ‘UFC Tonight’ that neither he nor the champ had any problem fighting each other, likening their potential eventual meeting to that of a famous basketball analogy:
“No (issues fighting). Not on my end, or at Tyron Woodley’s end.We’re both good friends. I get along just fine with Woodley. He’s actually showed me a lot things in the past, and I’ve worked with him in the past training to help him get ready to fight. There’s no hard feelings if me and him had to scrap.
“I’m LeBron and he’s Dwyane Wade. We split up teams, we meet in the Finals,” he said. “We’re going sit out because we were teammates at one point? Hell no. I’m here to get this money. I’ve got kids to feed.”
It’s a fair point from the suddenly surging ‘Gamebred,’ who suddenly emerged as a legitimate threat in the 170-pound division by shocking demolishing Donald Cerrone at UFC on FOX 22 in Denver this year.
If he can buck the odds again and send arguably the most talented submission specialist in MMA to a defeat, he’ll no doubt deserve a bout with his old teammate Woodley.
And that’s just fine with one of the game’s old-school prizefighters.
The post Jorge Masvidal Would Fight Teammate Tyron Woodley: I’ve Got Kids To Feed appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.
Now Maia will challenge Masvidal on a stacked UFC 211 card from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on May 13th. While he was holding out hope that he would instead receive a title shot the next time he stepped into an Octagon, Maia didn’t hesitate to accept the bout with the No. 6-ranked ‘Gamebred’: