Former UFC title contender Jorge Masvidal continues to build his promotion, as another event takes place Friday night.
Jorge Masvidal on bareknuckle MMA, promoting
Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA moves forward Friday night under the watchful eye of Jorge Masvidal with an event featuring Roy Nelson in the headline bout.
Nelson, a former Ultimate Fighter winner, takes on Dillon Clecker from Florida and the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise. The event will be the first of its kind in the state.
The 12-fight event broadcasts live at 8 p.m. ET via Jorge Masvidal’s YouTube and Facebook pages, plus the Gambred Promotions YouTube and Gamebred FC Facebook pages.
While Masvidal has stated plans to retire, he admits that promoting and competing still are two totally different waves.
“I love promoting. It’ll never fill the void of fighting,” he said. “But promoting is my dream job. I get to talk about fights and be involved in the gyms and sit here with legends and up-and-coming legends. It’s the best job in the world.”
Masvidal also sees a real value in bareknuckle MMA and what it can offer combat sports.
“Not every fighter who’s a high-level competitor with gloves, is fit for bareknuckle. It’s not for everybody,” he said. “It’s not a knock on anybody, it’s just different. You have to be more accurate, so it’s not gonna be everyone’s cup of tea. But it does bring out the meanest and biggest dogs and that’s what we’re looking for.
“Bringing this first sanctioned bareknuckle MMA fight to Florida means everything. I want to keep pushing and pushing and breaking down walls and barriers. To do it in my home state, it’s hard to put into words.”
Roy Nelson-Dillon Cleckler discuss their bout
Since his debut in 2004, Nelson has always been a fan-favorite. He spent a good portion of his career fighting the top heavyweights in the world with the UFC, going one-on-one with the likes of Stipe Miocic, Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Daniel Cormier, Frank Mir and Junior dos Santos.
Now, he tries his luck at a different skill.
“Nothing has really been different in preparation for this fight,” Nelson said. “It’s really just taking the gloves off when I hit the pads. The biggest thing has been focusing on being accurate with my punches. Because if you’re not accurate, you could break something.
“A win on Friday would be huge because it’s a historic win. Every time I fight, I try to put on a show. Win or lose, as long as I entertain the fans, I’m happy.”
Cleckler, as Nelson noted, has a little more experience in this style of fighting. And he plans to use that to his advantage.
“You don’t really have a choice but to be prepared to fight on the ground,” he said. “If that big guy wants to take me to the ground, we’re probably going to go there. So I’m prepared for everything.
“Bareknuckle definitely makes you turn up the heat. I don’t know if it gives me much of an advantage that I’ve fought bareknuckle before. Because you can’t really practice or train for how it’s gonna feel in there.”
Cleckler also has plenty of admiration for Nelson and what he has done over the course of his career.
“Roy is an icon in this sport and in my opinion, a future Hall of Famer. You couldn’t ask for a better opponent than that.”
Robin Black, Marlon Vera, Kayla Harrison involved
Masvidal has reached deep into his bag of contacts to bring out the big guns for this event. Robin Black will be on play-by-play with UFC fighter Marlon Vera and Olympic gold medalist and former PFL champion Kayla Harrison joining him.
The fight card also features the likes of Irwin Rivera, Jonathan Tuck, Anthony Njokuani, Charles Bennett and Jamahl Tatum.
