Jorge Masvidal Says he Never Got His “Fair Due Shot at 155”

Since we haven’t seen Jorge Masvidal fight at lightweight in a while, and because “Gamebred” is knocking on the title shot door at 170, you don’t hear much about him returning to 155. But, recently the dangerous and charismatic fighter said a return to the lightweight division isn’t out of the question…if…a big check followed.

Masvidal outlines conditions for lightweight return

As it stands right now, the expectation is that when the UFC is up-and-running again, Masvidal will challenge welterweight champ, Kamaru Usman. Masvidal has moved his way into a title shot, after putting together a remarkable 2019 campaign (which included wins over Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz).

So, most of the talk about Masvidal these days doesn’t involve “Gamebred” dropping back to 155. But, during a recent video Masvidal posted on his YouTube page, the welterweight contender said this (quotes via MMA Junkie).

“I would just have to be rewarded so mother(expletive) handsomely for me to drop down to ’55 and compete with anybody,” Masvidal said. “But I would love to do it because I felt like I never got my fair due shot at 155. I beat a lot of top-class competitors before I came into the UFC at 155; they never gave me a shot to fight a top-10 guy.

“It wasn’t until 170, they gave me top-10 and top-5 guys, so I never got, I felt, my fair due shot at ’55. I beat a lot of good guys when I was down there, in the UFC, as well.”

“The moolah is going to talk man; 155 is such a battle with my weight,” Masvidal said. “Once I’m somewhere around at 170-173 pounds, I’m at 5 percent body fat already, 6 percent body fat, so I don’t have a lot of room to play with to still get to 155. It’s a lot of water. It’s always been a lot of water, and that doesn’t leave me the night of the fight in the best shape that I could possibly be in.

“Like how I compete at 170, I have that explosion. I could explode a little bit more and for longer. At ’55, it would be a little different, but that’s not to say I couldn’t win one and that I couldn’t make the weight.”

There’s no doubt that Masvidal scored some big wins at lightweight. But, really, it wasn’t until his wins over Donald Cerrone and Darren Till that he started to get the widespread respect he deserved.

Could this happen?

So, it is interesting to hear Masvidal relay that he could make 155 again. It is true that he’s not big for the welterweight division. But still, when you consider he’s been at 170 for a while now, and that he’s now 35, it’s somewhat surprising to hear.

But, you know if a bout with say, Conor McGregor, was offered at lightweight, Masvidal would do his best to make the drop. Realistically, however, it’s hard to imagine a scenario right now where Masvidal will need to make that cut.