Jorge Masvidal could find himself fighting for a title again a lot sooner than he expected.
Despite being on a three-fight losing skid, Masvidal (35-16 MMA, 12-9 UFC) finds himself in the conversation for another crack at gold. However, some things have to go his way in order for it to come to fruition.
Reining UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman is set to defend his title against Leon Edwards (19-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) in the main event of UFC 278 on Aug. 20. If Edwards wins, he told MMA Fighting that he’d like his first title defense to be against rival Masvidal, who famously punched him backstage at a UFC London event in 2019.
“See that’s another intangible,” Masvidal said in an interview with BLOCK ASSET. “I gotta say no to fighting for the title? Like, hell no. I’ll get my ass in shape and get ready for this f*cking hooligan, you know? Give it all I got to break his face. So it’s a lot of tangibles. There are lot of things that can happen out there. I could be getting myself ready for No. 10 of the world and all of a sudden, I’m fighting for a world championship.”
“So what I’m telling you is that I don’t even know what I’m gonna do with myself. I’m unpredictable like that, you know? I’m gonna go with the best options all the time.”
Masvidal’s return to the octagon is currently delayed due to charges he’s facing of aggravated battery and criminal mischief after an alleged assault of Colby Covington on March 23. He is due back in court for a pre-trial hearing on Aug. 31.
“Gamebred,” whose current skid consists of a defeat to Covington and a pair of title-fight losses to Usman, has been eager to fight Conor McGregor, who would undoubtedly deliver a big paycheck. But, Masvidal says he’s still motivated to claim gold.
“Money-wise, I’m good,” Masvidal said. “I could have stopped a like year ago and I would have been good for life. I don’t need to come back into the cage for the money. Does it bring me a lot more money? Of course. Every time I fight it’s just way more money, but it’s something in here (heart) you know? I’m not happy closing the book. There’s a couple people’s heads that I have to take off.”