Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal will collide this weekend, but they could have easily had an early interaction a couple days before the fight.
Usman will defend his welterweight title against Masvidal in the new UFC 251 headliner on Saturday after the latter stepped in on short notice following the withdrawal of Gilbert Burns.
Of course, there are many hurdles to pass such as the pair passing multiple COVID-19 tests starting with one in Las Vegas. Ultimately, both passed the first test with flying colors and are now on their way to Abu Dhabi where they will be subject to further testing.
Usman, Masvidal Narrowly Avoid Each Other
During their testing in Las Vegas, the pair interestingly almost came in contact with each other.
The moment was captured in the first episode of the Embedded series for UFC 251 which you can watch below:
Close call 😬 #UFC251 pic.twitter.com/t75zOCcH0a
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 7, 2020
It certainly would have been interesting to see how both fighters would have reacted if they came face-to-face.
It’s well known that there is no love lost between them, and Masvidal notably claimed he would love to break Usman’s face if he met him outside the Octagon, if not for the fact that he wasn’t going to get paid to do it this weekend.
Usman, however, doesn’t believe anything would happen if they did come across each other in public for that very same reason as well as the fact that he feels Masvidal is a normal person and not an “animal” that many perceive him to be.
For now, we’ll never know.
