Jorge Masvidal has worked for years in an effort to win a UFC title, and ‘Gamebred’ isn’t about to abandon that goal, because of what happened at UFC 251.
Masvidal vows he won’t “disappear” without winning a title
The 35-year-old star stepped up on short notice to fight Kamaru Usman on Saturday night, after Gilbert Burns tested positive last week for COVID-19 and was removed from the bout.
Masvidal threatened the welterweight champ with some hard kicks and punches early on. But, Usman proceeded to use his wrestling and clinch game to shut ‘Gamebred’s’ offense down. In the end, the talented champ emerged from the fight with a clear-cut, decision win.
It was disappointing result for Masvidal, given that if he had won the belt, he would have been the most tenured fighter to win a title (with 49 fights). But, during the post-fight press conference, Masvidal let it be known that he still has his sights on winning UFC gold (quotes via MMA Junkie).
“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 go – 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.”
It will be interesting to see if Masvidal can work his way back into a title fight. Since he took the fight on short notice, and because of his platform, one would think a key win or two might do it.
Masvidal says he made “mistakes” in the bout
While talking about the fight itself, ‘Gamebred’ complimented Usman for his abilities and performance. But, Masvidal also maintains he made some key errors.
“I hate coming up short,” Masvidal said. “I ain’t going to make no excuses. 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.”
It’s nice to see that Masvidal didn’t pile on Usman for his wrestling centric approach, as at the end of the day, it was the champ’s clearest path to victory. But, it will be interesting to see if Masvidal sticks with that stance moving forward.
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