Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 251 live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app.
The circumstances aren’t always ideal when a golden
opportunity arises.
Such was the case for Jorge
Masvidal, who was accepted a welterweight title fight against
Kamaru
Usman on six days’ notice after originally-scheduled foe
Gilbert
Burns tested positive for COVID-19. Masvidal tested negative
for coronavirus, flew to Abu Dhabi, made weight and threatened the
champion for about a round in the UFC
251 headliner on Saturday night.
After that, “Gamebred” ran out of gas and Usman imposed his will
through takedowns and clinch work to earn a dominant unanimous
decision triumph. Still, Masvidal took away some positives from his
performance and came away motivated to eventually secure a rematch
with “The Nigerian Nightmare.”
“I hate coming up short. I ain’t going to make no excuses,”
Masvidal said at the UFC 251 post-fight press conference. “He was
the better man tonight. There was some areas where I didn’t give
him enough credit and there was some areas I felt with a better
training camp I could definitely surpass him. I think I showed a
lot of my wrestling on six days’ notice that I’m not too easy to
take down or hold down on the ground.
“I made a lot of mistakes. I tried to fight in spots where I didn’t
think my gas tank was the greatest. Right when I would get loose,
he would clinch me up and take it right back into his world. So,
I’m not going to take anything away from him. He won fair and
square. I will do whatever it takes to get back in front of that
man and compete again and get my hand raised.”
Building upon those positives, the Miami native believes he has the
proper plan to defeat Usman in a return date in the future.
“I’ve got a good formula in my head though on how to beat him the
next time,” Masvidal said. “I thought I had the formula. Now I know
the formula — it takes a lot of gas tank, a lot of conditioning, a
lot more wrestling rounds with high level guys. So I definitely got
a square root on how to beat this guy.”
Realistically, Masvidal knows an immediate rematch with Usman is
not in the cards. The American Top Team member plans on being
pickier accepting his next opponent, and he wants to make sure he
has a full camp behind him so he can make a good impression in the
Octagon.
“Definitely going to sit back and evaluate the next one,” Masvidal
said. “I don’t know if I’ll be coming back at the end of the year
or early next year. I’m going to sit down with my management and
figure it out. But whoever it is next year I just want to come back
and get a stoppage and be in peak shape, have a six-pack when I’m
out there and just be right.”
In the long run, the next opponent – and whatever might come beyond
that – is a means to an end. The ultimate goal is another crack at
Usman. Now a veteran of 49 professional fights, Masvidal is more
determined than ever to capture UFC gold.
“We’ll do it again,” Masvidal said. “I just can’t wait. They’ll put
an opponent in front of me and I’ll take care of business and I’m
going to come back better than ever. I’m not going to disappear
from the sport without this belt being wrapped around my waist. One
way or another. It’s not my best performance tonight but everyone
gets to see the dog in me and that dog doesn’t shut up or roll over
for nobody.”