Jorge Masvidal claims the UFC paid him a significant amount of money for his hasty title fight against Kamaru Usman at UFC 251.
“Gamebred” announced his retirement from the UFC after losing to Gilbert Burns at UFC 287 last year, but he has since won three straight in 2019 over Darren Till, Ben Askren, and Nate Diaz, making him more marketable in the promotion. He became one of the most valuable players. Stars of the past few years.
This impressive streak prompted the UFC to call up Masvidal when Burns had to miss 2020's UFC 251. Masvidal, 39, says his promotion made it worthwhile to challenge then-welterweight champion Usman in such a short amount of time.
Masvidal went close to Usman in their first fight at UFC 251.
Handout Photos – USA TODAY Sports
“There's only one mother in the world who can take the Bat Signal, and that's this guy right here,” Masvidal told Vlad TV. “But I had to get paid. And I had to get paid pretty well to do it. …This was one of my hardest fights; In the end, I sold less than 1.3 million PPVs. If I hadn't signed that contract with the UFC, I wouldn't have even sold the same amount. It wouldn't have come close.”
Masvidal lost a unanimous decision to Usman at UFC 251 and was knocked out in the rematch the following year. Still, those back-to-back welterweight title shots were part of a four-fight stretch for “Gamebred” in PPV main events before wrapping up his UFC career against Burns at UFC 287.
The 39-year-old's first UFC PPV headlining slot will be against Diaz at UFC 244 in a fight for the inaugural “BMF” belt, and the pair will meet in Masvidal's first professional fight on June 1. They are scheduled to face each other again in a boxing match.
Less than a year after Diaz capped off his UFC career with a win over Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 279, the 39-year-old stepped into a boxing ring for the first time to a sold-out house. I lost on a match decision. To Jake Paul.
The card for the June 1 boxing match between Diaz and Masvidal also includes former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis taking on UFC veteran Chris Avila, but many fans are wondering if that bout As much as I'm interested in that match, I will also be competing in the next match. UFC 302 on the same night.
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