Jorge Masvidal had an incredible 2019. However, we still haven’t seen him fight in 2020. In short, the UFC’s first BMF champion is at war with the UFC in an intense contract dispute that continues to rumble on. He should fight Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title but that fight isn’t happening now.
Instead, Gilbert Burns is going to take that opportunity. Meanwhile, Masvidal is happy to sit on the sidelines. The Miami native says that he doesn’t need to fight again. Jon Jones and ‘Gamebred’ are the two most high-profile athletes involved in this current dispute.
After Dana White criticized Masvidal and his tactics, ‘Gamebred’ fired back. He spoke on YouTube about the current situation and explained his side of the story.
Opportunity
Masvidal said that White doesn’t see the bigger picture. In sum, this is what is stopping him from coming back. Furthermore, he criticizes the lack of respect for the length of his career.
“I want to address something actually cause of the Dana White thing. Dana White said the other day and maybe you can explain this, he said this is not a career, this is an opportunity,” Jorge Masvidal said. “I’ve been doing this for 16 years, s**t I’ve had a lot of opportunity, huh? That’s crazy. So, it’s not a career Dana White, that’s interesting to know man. I really think sometimes we don’t see eye-to-eye on anything you f*****g you say, bro. How is this not a career? It’s crazy.”
Value
The BMF champion wants respect. In short, if the UFC doesn’t pay him properly then he’s not going to fight. They expect him to compete for less than his last fight. However, this doesn’t make sense to him because it would have been for a title fight. He’s got a point. Masvidal said:
“I said it earlier and I don’t mean to sound redundant, if we get our worth, it doesn’t matter who it is. I love to fight and I always get told don’t say that. Do you know why? They expect me to do it for cheap or damn near free. I love to compete in the sport that I do. But, I’ve been doing it for a long time and in the shadows, studying, learning, what makes this guy be able to get that much money. That whole planning, we’ve been doing for a while. We have a formula. Just like I do for fighting, we have a formula for the business side of it.
Money
However, he isn’t retiring for good. If the opportunity presents itself, then he’ll be happy to come back. But at this stage of his career, it’s all about the money. That’s why he’d even take another fight against Nate Diaz if needs be. Masvidal would like to knock him out properly.
“If they don’t want to pay me what I am worth, it is cool man, I’m set for life. I don’t have to fight, I fight because I love it. I’m about to be 17 years, I don’t have to f*****g fight, I don’t,” he continued. “I love to do this shit but I’m going to get paid every f*****g time I to do it. If it’s Nate’s ass or whoever the f**k it is, it doesn’t matter. Just pay me what the f**k I’m worth. Of course, I would love to fight with Nate just because I didn’t get to put him to sleep how I wanted to.”