It’s been a crazy, couple of days for Jorge Masvidal, as not only is he heading to Abu Dhabi for a short notice fight with the welterweight champ, Kamaru Usman, it looks like his contractual issues with the UFC have been settled, somewhat.
Masvidal has signed a new contract’
‘Gamebred’ vaulted into MMA headlines over the weekend, after it was confirmed that Gilbert Burns has tested positive for COVID-19, and will not fight Usman at UFC 251 as a result. Reports surfaced that the UFC was targeting Masvidal as the replacement.
Now it’s been confirmed that the welterweight’s passed his first, COVID-19 test, and is heading to ‘fight island’.
Well, everyone understood that this meant Masvidal had come to some sort of financial agreement for this specific fight. But, as it turns out, the dangerous welterweight has signed a new, multi-fight deal.
Masvidal confirmed the new deal while talking with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. The contract comes after Masvidal turned down the UFC’s initial offer have him to fight Usman, before Burns was brought in.
That led to a very public battle with the promotion over Masvidal’s contract and fighter pay in general.
While talking to Helwani, Masvidal admitted he didn’t get everything he was asking for, but he said it was “very, very close.”
“I can understand you don’t want to give me that much on the guaranteed,” Masvidal said. “But on the pay-per-view, what I bring in, what people purchase, I want more money on that, and they weren’t budging.
And that was that. So, all this craziness had to happen for them to come to their senses.”
“We’re not there yet, but we’re headed in that direction,” Masvidal said, while discussing his relationship with the UFC. “Moving forward after this fight, they’re gonna treat me accordingly.
Or I’ll just step in last minute six days to go and get paid then, I guess. That’s the new scheme I have to do, whatever. But I’m gonna get paid every time out.”
So, it will be interesting to see what kind of figures are reported, after this bout, in terms of Masvidal’s purse. That said, his new deal likely includes some changes to how much he hears from the pay-per-view, and those numbers aren’t typically disclosed.
Masvidal’s happy he gets to throw hand with his rival
If you’ve been following Masvidal over the last year or so, then you know he and Usman have formed quite the rivalry. As Masvidal moved into the pole position, in terms of a title shot, Usman pretended to not know who Masvidal was, and that escalated tensions.
As a result, Masvidal said he’s just excited to finally get a chance to lay hands on the champ.
“I’m happy more than anything because I get to break this guy’s face and get paid for it,”
Can Masvidal pull off the upset? And dethrone Usman on just a few days notice? It’s going to be a crazy night on Yas Island.
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