Jorge Masvidal is coming off arguably the most exciting knockout in UFC history. Now, he’s looking to hook the biggest fish in the fight game – Conor McGregor.
For those living under a rock, “Gamebred” floored the trash-talking Ben Askren in a mere five seconds at last weekend’s UFC 239. After the jaw-dropping knee landed, Masvidal understandably called for a shot at current champion Kamaru Usman. He reiterated that during an appearance on ESPN’s “The Dan LeBatard Show” (transcribed by MMA Fighting) today. Masvidal wasn’t quite sure it will happen, however:
“Definitely the title, definitely Kamaru Usman interests me. He’s got the title and that’s what I want but he’s always having injuries and things are happening.”
Looking For Huge Cash
With that established, Masvidal turned his attention to the biggest star in MMA history in McGregor. The ATT-trained contender wants a big payday, and there’s no bigger than “The Notorious.” Masvidal revealed his desire to ‘break McGregor’s face’ for a huge – and easy – paycheck:
“Another guy that interests me because it’s just a fight that if we made it, it’s going to sell a lot and I’m going to get the money that I deserve and you can see you put me in there in a fight and I’m going to fight. I’m going to give you what the fans. I’ve never pulled out of a fight.
“I want [Conor] McGregor. I want to break his face, I think that’s an easy paycheck. He’s got these cash symbols written all over his face for me. I just don’t see it going his way if I’m honest with you.”
No one can blame Masvidal for trying to get paid after several years as an under-the-radar contender with little to no mainstream attention. Despite that fact, Masvidal focused on the dynamic he had never tapped out like McGregor has. That, he claims, is the reason McGregor is an easy payday for him:
“He backs down. He taps. I’ve never tapped in my whole entire career. He’s tapped a couple times so that’s backing down in my book. It’s something I’ve never done and I feel like I’d break him. It would be an easy fight. It just means more money, more fans and then fight for the title. Either one of them makes sense to me.”
Only Two Fights Next
“Gamebred” closed by affirming that either McGregor or Usman would be just fine for him, but he seemed to lean towards McGregor if possible:
“I think either/or, equal out to big, big checks so I’m happy with either/or,” Masvidal said. “I think Conor’s a bigger check so I wouldn’t mind Conor, I want to put money away in the bank.”
McGregor is indeed a bigger check than Usman, and exponentially bigger than any other fighter in the UFC as well. However, McGregor is listed among the 100 highest-paid celebrities (not just athletes) without even fighting this year. Masvidal is the talk of the town in MMA right now, yet even that may not be enough to get a fight with the infamous Irishman.
It seems McGregor is waiting for one fight only – his oft-discussed rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov. Due to that, don’t expect him to move up to fight a welterweight who doesn’t hold the belt as of right now.
