- Jorge Masvidal hinted at a possible MMA return in the future
- “Gamebred” believes Francis Ngannou has induced more MMA fighters to also make the most out of their talents
Jorge Masvidal is not ruling out a potential MMA return but it must be an offer he couldn’t refuse. He also thinks more MMA fighters will try and do the same thing Francis Ngannou did when he landed a handsome deal from the Tyson Fury boxing match.
In Time
Speaking to Smack Talk with Sandhu, “Gamebred” confided that there’s not one day that he never thought about making an MMA return. It’s been three months since he retired but Masvidal said it has been hard for him to forget about fighting. He may consider a return but it’s gonna be later rather than sooner.
“Every night [I think about a possible return]. “I go into the gym and it’s like I do really well sometimes, my coaches are like, ‘Man, you’re still moving good’ and stuff like that but I just know like certain departments just slowed down and plus it’s so fresh in my head so of course I’m gonna have emotions. I just wanna always stay in shape, stay training, it’s part of for my mental health. Could I say that I’m retired for life? I can never say I wouldn’t come back since I’ve been doing this 20 years, it’s what I did for 20 years night and day, day and night so that habit itself will be hard to break. I think at some point I will come back, I don’t see it anytime soon.”
Masvidal could’ve pushed for a rematch with Nate Diaz or fought his way back to title contention and settle his feud with reigning welterweight champion Leon Edwards. However, the UFC’s BMF insists none of that matters to him now and only a massive payday could make him come back.
“I’m not trying to fight you know but I’m not against a ginormous pay like, Let’s say the biggest paycheck I’ve ever gotten in my life, multiply that by like 10 then yeah, who am I to say no to generational wealth? But as of right now for fighting even any of those names that you mentioned, I don’t care, bro, I’m alright.”
Francis paved the way
When asked to comment about Ngannou’s success in securing himself a couple of huge deals with the PFL and the Fury fight, Masvidal referred to it as a start of “movement.” For “Gamebred,” MMA fighters will now try and follow Ngannou’s blueprint and also make the most money out of their abilities.
“I love it,” Masvidal said of Ngannou. “I’m trying to think if any champions ever been released while being a champion, I don’t think so. Nothing you’ve seen. So on that you have to applaud Ngannou just because you took the gamble right without knowing like hey am I gonna get any money? I don’t know then not only is he guaranteeing himself money with the PFL but he’s also going to get this boxing money, it’s the greatest playbook right now currently done in MMA. I could say you know he’s about to make the biggest money ever win or lose or draw, whatever happens, he’s going to make serious, serious money and then if it doesn’t work out for him, as we’re all expecting it not to, you know [he could] just go back to MMA at the PFL and do his thing so I think he hit a hell of a bold pot for himself.”
“I think we will try [and do what Ngannou did],” he added. “I think people definitely, definitely it will spark a movement for more people going towards it.”
Masvidal became one of the UFC’s biggest draws after making history at UFC 239 with his five-second KO on Ben Askren. He went on and beat Diaz to become the promotion’s “BMF” but went 0-4 since then. His latest decision loss to Gilbert Burns at UFC 287 prompted him to call it a career.
