Jorge Masvidal was the UFC’s first ‘BMF’ champion, and he wouldn’t thoughts getting a shot to win it again sometime.
The not too long ago retired Masvidal spoke to ESPN about his future plans, which embody selling his upcoming Gamebred Bareknuckle occasion on Sept. 8 that’s headlined by a bare-knuckle MMA rematch between former UFC heavyweight champions Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum.
Masvidal was additionally requested for his ideas on what newly topped BMF champion Justin Gaethje ought to do with the belt, and volunteered his companies if Gaethje plans to place it on the road.
“I feel he ought to defend it towards me, if you happen to ask me,” Masvidal mentioned. “That’s what ought to occur if I used to be to come back again to the game. That’s an enormous if, however I by no means knock off coming again to preventing as a result of I like preventing. I like preventing. It’s my favourite pastime, it’s my favourite sport, it’s my lifestyle. So, I can by no means say I’m not going to battle.
“However I feel Gaethje ought to simply keep energetic actually. Battle. Maintain preventing. Keep competing, keep preventing the world’s finest, as a result of that’s what a foul motherf***** is meant to do, take all of them on. I by no means mentioned, ‘I’m not preventing this man as a result of he’s a high-level grappler or this man as a result of he’s a f****** higher striker than me.’ One or all, they’re all the identical to me. Gaethje just about has that perspective, that’s why he’s a foul motherf*****. He’s not ducking no person. That man actually will battle anyone. A wrestler, striker, jiu-jitsu man, he takes all of them, and that’s an enormous requirement.”
Masvidal, 38, added that he’s not within the USADA testing pool, so if he have been to return to the UFC, he would seemingly require a compulsory six months of testing earlier than being allowed to compete once more. He’s not planning to come back again, but in addition isn’t ruling out the chance.
“It’s not one thing that I might do but or that I need to do but,” Masvidal mentioned. “It’s at all times behind my thoughts, like, man, I miss preventing. However proper now I need to get these promotions off the bottom. I do have some information that’s big, however I can’t announce it but.”
At UFC 291, Gaethje grew to become the second-ever BMF champion with a shocking second-round head-kick knockout of Dustin Poirier, a coaching companion of Masvidal’s. Because the inaugural champion, Masvidal had the honour of placing the title round Gaethje’s waist after the battle.
Whereas one could assume that created a clumsy scenario, Masvidal insists he has monumental respect for Gaethje and, if something, he was extra in shock at how the bout ended.
“By no means, no diss or nothing to the homie,” Gaethje mentioned. “He did his factor. I believed he further did his factor as a result of within the first spherical he acquired his ass whooped, he acquired rocked twice; proper on the finish of it Dustin caught him clear by the fence after which Dustin didn’t soar on him as a result of — I talked to him after — he was pondering, ‘I’ll simply it construct up, Gaethje’s wild, he’s nonetheless very contemporary and robust,’ so he type of took that point off, and in that one minute Gaethje adjusted and pulled it out. Pulled the top kick out from out of nowhere.
“Nice setup, nice fakes, it was frickin’ superb. I believed we have been going to have that one within the bag, so I couldn’t even imagine it. As I used to be handing him the belt I used to be like, ‘Holy smokes, I believed my boy had this within the bag.’ Hat’s off to Gaethje and his camp. In the event that they have been to battle once more, I feel it might go the exact opposite approach, and in the event that they have been to battle once more, who is aware of? I feel ‘DP’ is the higher fighter, it simply wasn’t his evening that evening.”
