Jorge Masvidal will finally step into the octagon against Kamaru Usman this weekend.
Originally, these two welterweights were set to clash for the 170-pound belt at the July pay-per-view; however, Masvidal was unhappy with the financial offer he received from officials and Gilbert Burns ultimately got the opportunity to challenge for the belt at UFC 251.
Unfortunately for Burns, the top contender tested positive for the coronavirus thus he was removed from the main event of UFC 251. Immediately, Masvidal and Colby Covington threw their names out as potential challengers for Usman, with the fight between Masvidal and Usman confirmed quickly over the weekend.
This was ultimately a win for Masvidal, who managed to get close to the offer he was looking for and has the possibility of becoming the new UFC Welterweight Champion this weekend (Transcript courtesy of MMA Junkie):
“I didn’t get exactly what I wanted, but I got very, very close to it,” Masvidal told Ariel Helwani of ESPN. “I’m happy more than anything because I get to break this guy’s face and get paid for it. But one thing I’m not going to do, which I’ve done a long part of my career, is get underpaid. That’s not going to happen no more – not from here going forward.”
While the Florida native doesn’t reveal the exact amount that he was given for the championship fight, he does dive a bit deeper into how he got a better deal, which stems from the pay-per-view end on the guarantee side:
“The initial deal … was a (expletive) deal on the pay-per-view end and on the guarantee side, so I have two negatives,” Masvidal said. “I could understand you don’t want to give me that much on the guaranteed (money). 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.”
UFC 251 takes place on Saturday, July 11 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada with Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal for the UFC Welterweight title.