After testing himself in the sweet science, Jorge Masvidal is ready to get back to work inside the Octagon.
‘Gamebred’ walked away from the UFC last year after dropping four straight fights, including back-to-back losses against Kamaru Usman followed by a pair of unanimous decision defeats at the hands of Colby Covington and Gilbert Burns.
Since then, Masvidal has competed in one boxing bout—a rematch with Nate Diaz five years removed from their BMF title clash at UFC 244. Though he was victorious in their first meeting, Masvidal came up short on the scorecards the second time around, dropping a majority decision to the ‘Stockton Samurai’ in Anaheim, Calif.
“I know they got it wrong,” Masvidal told Grind City Media when asked if the judges got it wrong in July. “Nick knows he lost. It’s tough. There were some rounds that I clearly won where all he did was throw air punches or punches at my gloves and I f*cking rocked and socked him. He stayed on his feet, but I f*ckin’ gave him an ass-whoopin’ and that round would still go to him. It was crazy.
“I hit him with a three-piece and he finally backed up and he put his hands up. The crowd went nuts. I was like man, if I don’t knock this dude dead—I knew it all along. If I didn’t knock him dead there was gonna be some bullsh*t.”
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Now, the two-time welterweight title challenger is ready to strap on the four-ounce gloves for a return to MMA’s biggest stage.
“I had a blast doing the boxing, it was fun, it was everything, but there’s just nothing in the world that compares to MMA,” Masvidal said. “There ain’t sh*t in the world like MMA. I just finished up training at American Top Team right now and it’s just the funnest thing I’ve ever done in my life. A lot of nights, I went to sleep just missing it, just doing certain training or certain workouts. I f*cking love it, man.
“Definitely 100 percent back to MMA [next]. I don’t know when I’m fighting but I’m fighting at either the end of this year or next year.”
Jorge Masvidal Says a UFC Title Run is ‘Never Out of the Question’
Masvidal doesn’t have an exact name or date just yet but no matter who it is, ‘Gamebred is confident that he’ll climb back into the win column for the first time since November 2019 and bag a third shot at UFC gold.
“When I get the biggest fights that I can possibly get, knock that motherf*cker dead, they’ll be begging me to fight for the title,” Masvidal said. “A title run is never ever out of the question. Especially for somebody as skilled as me.”
In a separate interview with MMA Fighting, Masvidal suggested that a December scrap with former Bellator champion ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler could be in the cards. Chandler has regularly been tied to a fight with Irish megastar Conor McGregor, but with the former two-division champ pulling out of their previously scheduled headliner at UFC 303 in June, Chandler and the UFC may be finally ready to move on.
Watch the full interview below:
