UFC welterweight challenger Jorge Masvidal reveals that there is a chance he might drop back down to the lightweight division.
Masvidal, 35, has been on a tear in the UFC welterweight division. In 2019, he arguably had the 3 best performances of his nearly-50 professional MMA fight career. Masvidal fought 3 times last year, scoring impressive stoppage victories over welterweight contenders in Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz.
His rise to UFC stardom began with a devastating 2nd round knockout victory over Darren Till. He took on the Englishman in his home country and put him away with punches in the 2nd round, earning himself a “Performance of the Night” bonus.
In his next fight, he returned to action Ben Askren at UFC 239. Many fans believed that Askren’s wrestling was going to be too much for Masvidal. He proved them all wrong, after landing a devastating flying knee in the first 5 seconds of the fight. Askren was immediately knocked out cold, earning Masvidal another “Performance of the Night” bonus and the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history.
Following his 2 spectacular knockout victories, the UFC set up a superfight between Masvidal and Nate Diaz. Shortly after the fight was announced, UFC president Dana White confirmed that the bout was for a one-off “Baddest Motherf**ker” (‘BMF’) belt.
Masvidal is now expected to challenge the UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman for his title sometime this year.
He has previously competed in the lightweight division. Masvidal challenged Gilbert Melendez for the Strikeforce lightweight title back in 2011, before signing with the UFC. Masvidal had 7 fights at lightweight in the UFC and now it appears that he would be willing to return to the division under the right circumstances.
Masvidal recently talked about it on his podcast. See what the “BMF” had to say below:
“It wasn’t until 170, they gave me top-10 and top-5 guys, so I never got, I felt, my fair due shot at ’55. I beat a lot of good guys when I was down there, in the UFC, as well,” Masvidal said. “The moolah is going to talk man; 155 is such a battle with my weight. It’s always been a lot of water, and that doesn’t leave me the night of the fight in the best shape that I could possibly be in.
“Like how I compete at 170, I have that explosion,” Masvidal continued. “I could explode a little bit more and for longer. At ’55, it would be a little different, but that’s not to say I couldn’t win one and that I couldn’t make the weight. If they were to cop up that money, I’d be in a hurry to get down there and show what I’m worth.”
As mentioned earlier, Jorge Masvidal is expected to face Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight title next. The two have been going back-and-forth since the fight was first rumoured. Usman threatened to slap Masvidal’s manager and believes that he won’t be too much a challenge for him. He listed 7 fighters at welterweight, who Usman believes are better than Masvidal.
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 18th March, 2020.
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