Not long ago, Jorge Masvidal turned heads throughout combat sports by relaying he wants to “break” the face of Conor McGregor. But, the dangerous welterweight has clarified that he has nothing bad to say about the former UFC champ. In fact, Masvidal says he understands if McGregor decides he’s not getting paid enough to fight again.
Masvidal started calling for a bout, following his record fast, KO win over Ben Askren at UFC 239. “Gamebred” is hoping that win moves him into a title fight with champion, Kamaru Usman, but if that doesn’t happen, Masvidal wants to fight McGregor.
Well, recently TMZ caught up with Masvidal, and not surprisingly, he was asked about the possibility of fighting McGregor. Here’s some of what the ATT fighter had to say (quotes via MMA Fighting):
First, let me say whether Conor takes it or not – because people be putting sometimes words in people’s mouths, from my mouth in particular – I got good things to say about Conor,” Masvidal sad. “He’s done a lot in this sport and he’s made his money already. If he feels he’s not getting the money he deserves to come back, man I’m the first one to applaud him and be like, ‘Do your thing my brother. Go get the money.’ I always cheer for my MMA brothers and sisters. So if he feels he ain’t getting his money’s worth, I’m not gonna call ever him a p*ssy for that, or nothing like that. Go get your money’s worth. That’s the first thing I want to say.
“The second thing is, if he wants to come back and he wants somebody who’s gonna stand with him and give him the type of fights that he likes, look no further my brother. Let’s not flirt with each other and all this sh*t. I’ve got a big buzz going on because I’m known and put people to sleep. You’ve got a huge buzz because you put people to sleep. Let’s do this. That’s it. It has to be no back and forth and all that flirty sh*t like we’re in high school. Let’s just scrap if we’re gonna scrap. If not, NEXT.”
Interesting and commendable comments. But, that’s the big question: does Conor and his team believe a bout with Masvidal will generate the kind of money he’s looking for? Masvidal has a ton of buzz right now, as he noted, but has that spread into the mainstream?
There’s no doubt that Masvidal – McGregor would be big (although, Dana White has argued Masvidal is too big for McGregor). You could argue any fight involving the “Notorious” one would be. But, would a third fight with Nate Diaz or a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov be bigger? Almost certainly. There are roadblocks currently in the way, however, for either of those match-ups.