Jorge Masvidal didn’t get exactly what he was asking for but he got pretty close.
Masvidal is stepping in at UFC 251 to replace Gilbert Burns. “Durinho” tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced out of the UFC welterweight title bout with champion Kamaru Usman. “Gamebred” had issues with the UFC during the negotiation process before Burns was picked to headline UFC 251 but now things are looking rosier.
Jorge Masvidal Satisfied With New UFC Deal
Masvidal spoke to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani after news broke that he’s replacing Burns. “Gamebred” admitted that he didn’t receive the exact number he was asking for but he came close enough.
“I’ve been in this business for a while. I know what I generate, we know what we generate. It’s a numbers game. Numbers are there. It’s not, ‘I think I deserve this.’ No, I see on paper what I bring in. We know me and my team know what I deserve. So when we got undercut and lowballed, ‘alright cool, no problem. Let’s see what happens.’ I told my manager, I told several people, I go, ‘… watch at the last moment they’re probably gonna call me back and some craziness is gonna happen,’ and I told several people that are very, very close to me and bam it happened. Now, I didn’t get exactly what I wanted but I got very, very close to it so I’m taking the fight.”
Masvidal went on to note that this isn’t a one-off type of deal. Several fights have been tacked on his contract with the promotion. “Gamebred” made it clear that going forward he will not be underpaid.
In his last three outings, Masvidal has emerged victorious. In that span, he has defeated Nate Diaz, Ben Askren, and Darren Till. All of those bouts ended via knockout or TKO.
To take the welterweight title from Usman, Masvidal will need to snap “The Nigerian Nightmare’s” 15-fight winning streak. Usman hasn’t lost a bout since May 2013, which happens to be the only defeat in his pro MMA career.
