It’s been 18 months since Jorge Masvidal left his gloves in the Octagon and just three months since he entered the ring as a professional boxer. Now the inaugural BMF champion plans to return to the UFC.
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In an interview with Grind City Media, Jorge Masvidal spoke about enjoying his time away from the cage and his desire to compete in his preferred combat sport.
“I had a blast doing the boxing. It was fun. It was everything but there’s just nothing in the world that compares to MMA…it’s just the funnest thing I’ve ever done in my life. You know there was a lot of nights I went to sleep just missing it, you know. Just doing certain training or certain workouts.”
Since stepping away from the UFC in April of 2023, Jorge Masvidal has kept busy as head of Gamebred Fighting Championships, a bare-knuckle MMA promotion. The company’s most recent event occurred this past March with Junior Dos Santos vs. Alan Belcher serving as the headliner.
In July, Masvidal rekindled his rivalry with fellow UFC star Nate Diaz in a main event promoted by Fanmio. The Miami native dropped a majority decision in his second professional boxing match.
Masvidal didn’t give details on his return but said he plans on competing “either at the end of this year or next year.” Until then, here are four potential opponents for “Gamebred.”
Jorge Masvidal vs. Justin Gaethje
Masvidal was vocal about his desire to face Justin Gaethje when “The Highlight” held the UFC’s second BMF belt. Even though both men have suffered devastating KOs since wearing the symbolic crown, the match up still checks several boxes.
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Two fan favorites that consistently put on crowd-pleasing performances might be too tempting for the UFC to pass up on.
Jorge Masvidal vs Conor McGregor
Despite official announcements and season of TUF, it doesn’t look Conor McGregor is ever going to fight Michael Chandler. If the former Bellator lightweight king isn’t enough to convince “The Notorious” to put down the Proper 12, perhaps a more proven pay-per-view draw is.
McGregor and Masvidal have engaged in a war of words for years now and would easily sell the contest.
Jorge Masvidal vs. Leon Edwards
Their backstage confrontation spawned several memes and introduced a new catchphrase in the MMA lexicon. Despite the impact that Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards’ run-in made on the fanbase, the two have never officially squared off. Now that Edwards is no longer the welterweight champion, the UFC could pull the trigger on this rivalry.
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Jorge Masvidal vs. Nick Diaz
Since Masvidal may not have the chance to complete a trilogy with Nate Diaz, maybe he can keep the fun in the family. Nick Diaz was recently scheduled to return to action against Vicente Luque before “travel issues” scrapped the pairing. If Nick wants to pick up the baton for his little brother, there’ll be no shortage of fans ready to watch.
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