The war of words between Jorge Masvidal and former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping continues. If you recall, the two fighters have had several verbal altercations in the past. Now, Masvidal is pushing to settle the score in the octagon. Bisping has gone on record by stating that he would like to have his final […]
The war of words between Jorge Masvidal and former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping continues.
If you recall, the two fighters have had several verbal altercations in the past. Now, Masvidal is pushing to settle the score in the octagon.
Bisping has gone on record by stating that he would like to have his final fight in London. Ironically, the promotion is slated to return to England on March 17 for UFC Fight Night 127 at The O2 Arena, which is about six weeks away.
Masvidal made it clear in a recent interview that he is down to accept the fight with Bisping at that event.
“I just don’t like him as a person,” Masvidal told MMAjunkie Radio. “I never really liked him before I met him, and after we had our encounters, I liked him even less. With him, it’s just a personal thing. He disrespected my country when he ripped up the flag, so he’s got the bounty on his head. I would like to cash in before he retires. That’s why I’m willing to fight so early (in March).”
It should be noted that Bisping remains medically suspended following a first-round knockout loss to Kelvin Gastelum in November at UFC Fight Night 122. On the flip side, Masvidal suffered a decision loss to Stephen Thompson at UFC 217.
“If it’s up to me, I’m just going to be in the gym getting better until July, August,” Masvidal said. “Train, train, train and just go to the gym without having to fight. Just train and get better – do new things and change up old habits. That takes a bit of time to learn those things and execute them. That’s the only reason I’m willing to step up early, because I don’t like Bisping’s ass.”
“Either one of those guys I’m interested in because I don’t like either one of them,” Masvidal said of Bisping and Neil Magny. “But if not, I’m just going to be in the gym getting better.”
Jorge Masvidal is making it known that he’s targeting Michael Bisping. It’s no secret that there’s animosity between Masvidal and Bisping. The two have traded barbs back and forth since the buildup to UFC 217. Masvidal is an American …
Jorge Masvidal is making it known that he’s targeting Michael Bisping. It’s no secret that there’s animosity between Masvidal and Bisping. The two have traded barbs back and forth since the buildup to UFC 217. Masvidal is an American Top Team teammate of Yoel Romero. Both Romero and Masvidal took issue with Bisping ripping the […]
When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion. It may have been extremely rough around the edges in […]
When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion.
It may have been extremely rough around the edges in those ‘dark’ days where the sport having few rules and regulation had it on the precipice of doom, but the opposite is very much true today. After the Fertitta brothers along with Dana White purchased the UFC for a paltry sum and turned it into a legitimately regulated competition watched on pay-per-view the world over, the UFC exploded into a global brand that put shows on nearly every weekend.
When its popularity peaked in 2016 on the heels of the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rivalry, the Fertitta brothers saw an opportunity to cash in, and cash in they did. Selling the UFC to Hollywood talent giant WME-IMG (now Endeavor) for a then-record $4.2 billion, one of the biggest franchise sales in sports (of any kind) history was complete. But all was not rosy. This year has seen the advent of some truly horrific pay-per-view and television ratings, with UFC 213, UFC 215, and UFC 216 ranking as three of the lowest-watched PPVs ever, while December’s TUF 26 Finale was the least-watched UFC live event of all-time.
So while it was undoubtedly rough around the edges in its infancy, the UFC is dealing with a whole different set of problems heading into 2018, and many would argue that the UFC owners don’t exactly know what they’re doing. A growing sense is that the Hollywood agency is now trying to book the more mainstream, over-the-top spectacle fights rather than those that clearly have a more legitimate meaning based on meritocracy.
It’s lead to a steady stream of criticism that the UFC is becoming more like pro-wrestling and their WWE counterpart, obviously not the most endearing of words from fight fans. The argument, unfortunately, cannot be totally denied. Let’s take a look at the reasons why:
Jason Silva/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire
5.) Titles Mean Next To Nothing:
Endeavor has to be commended for finally getting the middleweight division moving in the right direction by booking Robert Whittaker vs. Luke Rockhold for UFC 221, but there is one weight class that is an absolute mess in the UFC.
It’s obviously Conor McGregor’s held-hostage lightweight division, where “The Notorious” fought once and won the belt way back at UFC 205 in November 2016 before leaving to box – and lose – to Floyd Mayweather for the entirety of 2017. McGregor made the record-setting payday he was always looking for and can’t be blamed for doing it, but the fact remains the 155-pound landscape, which is still one of the most talented in MMA, has no clarity whatsoever at the current moment.
An interim belt was given to Tony Ferguson at October’s UFC 216, but without a path to a unification bout with McGregor, he opted to have elbow surgery, leaving not one but two champions on the sidelines with no real news about a return. Take into account the middleweight situation as well, where Michael Bisping was allowed to avoid the top 10 contenders by facing a retiring No. 14 Dan Henderson and an unretiring Georges St-Pierre, who had never even fought in the division. St-Pierre won and vacated the belt hardly a month later.
Interim titles are also created around much more frequently, making them seem more like the WWE titles that are handed over and won back on a never-ending cycle.
Because of these occurrences, UFC titles seem like little more than gold belts to be flaunted after a win rather than symbols of true MMA supremacy to be defended with pride.
When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion. It may have been extremely rough around the edges in […]
When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion.
It may have been extremely rough around the edges in those ‘dark’ days where the sport having few rules and regulation had it on the precipice of doom, but the opposite is very much true today. After the Fertitta brothers along with Dana White purchased the UFC for a paltry sum and turned it into a legitimately regulated competition watched on pay-per-view the world over, the UFC exploded into a global brand that put shows on nearly every weekend.
When its popularity peaked in 2016 on the heels of the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rivalry, the Fertitta brothers saw an opportunity to cash in, and cash in they did. Selling the UFC to Hollywood talent giant WME-IMG (now Endeavor) for a then-record $4.2 billion, one of the biggest franchise sales in sports (of any kind) history was complete. But all was not rosy. This year has seen the advent of some truly horrific pay-per-view and television ratings, with UFC 213, UFC 215, and UFC 216 ranking as three of the lowest-watched PPVs ever, while December’s TUF 26 Finale was the least-watched UFC live event of all-time.
So while it was undoubtedly rough around the edges in its infancy, the UFC is dealing with a whole different set of problems heading into 2018, and many would argue that the UFC owners don’t exactly know what they’re doing. A growing sense is that the Hollywood agency is now trying to book the more mainstream, over-the-top spectacle fights rather than those that clearly have a more legitimate meaning based on meritocracy.
It’s lead to a steady stream of criticism that the UFC is becoming more like pro-wrestling and their WWE counterpart, obviously not the most endearing of words from fight fans. The argument, unfortunately, cannot be totally denied. Let’s take a look at the reasons why:
Jason Silva/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire
5.) Titles Mean Next To Nothing:
Endeavor has to be commended for finally getting the middleweight division moving in the right direction by booking Robert Whittaker vs. Luke Rockhold for UFC 221, but there is one weight class that is an absolute mess in the UFC.
It’s obviously Conor McGregor’s held-hostage lightweight division, where “The Notorious” fought once and won the belt way back at UFC 205 in November 2016 before leaving to box – and lose – to Floyd Mayweather for the entirety of 2017. McGregor made the record-setting payday he was always looking for and can’t be blamed for doing it, but the fact remains the 155-pound landscape, which is still one of the most talented in MMA, has no clarity whatsoever at the current moment.
An interim belt was given to Tony Ferguson at October’s UFC 216, but without a path to a unification bout with McGregor, he opted to have elbow surgery, leaving not one but two champions on the sidelines with no real news about a return. Take into account the middleweight situation as well, where Michael Bisping was allowed to avoid the top 10 contenders by facing a retiring No. 14 Dan Henderson and an unretiring Georges St-Pierre, who had never even fought in the division. St-Pierre won and vacated the belt hardly a month later.
Interim titles are also created around much more frequently, making them seem more like the WWE titles that are handed over and won back on a never-ending cycle.
Because of these occurrences, UFC titles seem like little more than gold belts to be flaunted after a win rather than symbols of true MMA supremacy to be defended with pride.
Jorge Masvidal is not backing down as he continues to pursue his quest to fight former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. However, it appears that Bisping wants no part of their beef that Masvidal is trying to start. Masvidal decided that Tuesday was a good time to release a supposed direct-message exchange with Bisping via […]
Jorge Masvidal is not backing down as he continues to pursue his quest to fight former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. However, it appears that Bisping wants no part of their beef that Masvidal is trying to start.
Masvidal decided that Tuesday was a good time to release a supposed direct-message exchange with Bisping via social media. It looked like an almost perfect transcribed version of their back and forth trash talk.
As seen in the messages Masvidal blasted Bisping for ripping up the Cuban flag and accused him of being a racist. Bisping dismisses Masvidal in turn.
“U had a chance to talk like men in private u choose to Make scene in front of fans n ufc staff,” wrote Masvidal with laughing emojis. “U such a hoe.”
“(Expletive) you little (expletive),” Bisping replied. “Get a life you sad (expletive).”
Bisping declared in the exchange, “listen I’m not interested in any beef. You do your thing, I’ll do mine.”
It should be noted that Bisping remains medically suspended following a first-round knockout loss to Kelvin Gastelum this past month at UFC Fight Night 122. On the flip side, Masvidal suffered a decision loss to Stephen Thompson at UFC 217.
Masvidal wrote the following in the caption of the Instagram post about the exchange:
“Prediction: Gets offered the fight turns it down Prediction 2: All corny welterweights start calling on thy name ……….. 1. I know a lot of you fighters grew up watching me. STOP trying to be me you know who you are…. this is to ww’s in particular 2. Stop being #corny 3. Enjoy this little #gem between me and @mikebisping #BackyardstoBrightLights #gamebred #realisback”
Jorge Masvidal is no stranger to street fights as he picked up some wins on YouTube as a competitor in Kimbo Slice’s backyard fight videos. Despite that, he was a bit surprised when he heard about the incident that took place earlier this week in Sydney, Australia. It’s well known that Colby Covington and former […]
Jorge Masvidal is no stranger to street fights as he picked up some wins on YouTube as a competitor in Kimbo Slice’s backyard fight videos. Despite that, he was a bit surprised when he heard about the incident that took place earlier this week in Sydney, Australia.
It’s well known that Colby Covington and former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum got into a heat altercation in which words were exchanged and Werdum ended up hitting him with a boomerang.
“Never seen a boomerang get involved in the action,” Masvidal told reporters during a media scrum ahead of UFC Sydney (transcript courtesy of Bloody Elbow“That’s my introduction to Australian street fights. That’s pretty crazy.”
Covington and Werdum got into a scuffle which was apparently centered around Covington’s persistent xenophobic comments toward Brazilians. And eventually, the whole thing culminated with Werdum throwing a boomerang at the top-ranked UFC welterweight.
“Nah, Colby’s Colby,” Masvidal said, when asked if he thought Covington should ‘reel it back.’ “That’s my partner. He’s gonna do whatever he wants. He’s not gonna definitely listen to me. He’s crazy, man.
I actually told him, though, right before we left – because he was scheduled to do some interviews with the UFC – and I told him, I go, ‘You should watch out, you know? If that dude said that, he probably would try to do something to you, put his hands on you.’ And it’s crazy that it happened shortly after. This was, like, 20 minutes before that happened. I told him, I was like, ‘Hey, be ready in case something happens, you know?’“
Although he has his own history of fighting outside of the cage in a professional sporting arrangement, Masvidal was relieved that he wasn’t involved in what happened in Sydney.
“You know, it’s crazy because I don’t want to be in, start more bad press for my sport and get fined and things,” Masvidal told reporters. “So, in a way I’m glad that I’m not there. I just, I don’t want to be a part of the chaos, you know? I’m not gonna run for it, if there’s a fight and somebody’s pickin’ it with me. Well, that’s what I love to do, so f-ck it. I might have to do a free one here and there. But I don’t want to. I don’t want to get in trouble. I don’t want no extra, negative media on me.”
“Colby’s Colby, man,” Masvidal reiterated. “He’s crazy, he’s on a different vibe. He’s got different plans, man. I don’t tell him what to do when it comes to that type of stuff. You know, he’ll listen to me, but at the end of the day that’s dude’s crazy, man. He’s gonna do what he wants to do, man.”
