According to Jorge Masvidal, there was an opportunity for him to face Kamaru Usman at UFC 249. However, the financial terms weren’t to his liking.
“There was a deal on the table, but when the full deal and the whole extent of it got brought through and how it was going to play out, the budget really wasn’t there in a way for what we were asking,” Masvidal recently told BT Sport. “The price tag that I put out there, they didn’t wanna pay. This other guy, who knows if he was in or not, but my price wasn’t met. And for the risk-to-reward factor, I wanted to get compensated and the compensation wasn’t really there.”
Ultimately, the promotion’s attempts to move UFC 249 to tribal land in California failed, as Dana White was told by ESPN and Disney executives to cancel the event due to ongoing concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic. All UFC events are now suspended indefinitely, but Masvidal is hopeful that he and Usman can come to terms for a welterweight title fight later in 2020, perhaps during International Fight Week in July if things are somewhat normal by then.
“We weren’t too far off either, we can make it work in the future for a fact,” Masvidal said. “I think in July, I’ll be beheading this guy for the whole world to see.”
“Gamebred” entered the title discussion on the strength of a memorable 2019 that saw him earn impressive victories over Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz. Masvidal and Usman engaged in a confrontation on media row during Super Bowl week, which only served to fuel the hype for a potential Octagon showdown between the two men.
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Usman is currently on a 15-bout professional winning streak that began before he signed with the UFC. “The Nigerian Nightmare” claimed 170-pound gold with a dominant five-round verdict over Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 before successfully defending the crown with a fifth-round stoppage of Colby Covington at UFC 245.
While Usman was willing to stand and trade with Covington in December, Masvidal doesn’t expect a similar approach if they fight. Whatever Usman’s game plan might be, the Miami native is confident that he’ll be prepared.
He’s a boring-ass dude. If I’m speaking from a straight tactical point, he’s not going to want to strike, and he doesn’t really fully commit to wrestling either,” Masvidal said. “All he fully commits to is stalling. Just being a f—-ing stall machine. For the first time, he didn’t stall with this guy [Covington], and it was a f—-ing kickboxing match, and the world gave him all types of praise for it because he wasn’t his usual, boring self, and he actually threw some fists.
“But we all know he’s not gonna throw fists when it comes to me, he’s gonna try to act like he’s gonna throw fists and then he’s gonna go for the takedown, and he’s going to quickly find out I’ll never get held down by that guy. I won’t get out-grappled by that guy. I’ll put my life on it, I’ll put my money on it. I’m in the firm belief system that I’m a better fighter than him and I’m going to prove it in July.”
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