Jorge Masvidal has settled on Kamaru Usman’s welterweight title as his next target, as he says Conor McGregor isn’t ‘up to speed’ yet.
Masvidal has been torn between a big money fight with McGregor and challenging Usman for the UFC weltwerweight title.
And the 35-year-old was leaning towards ‘Notorious’ as his next opponent.
He believed the big paycheck against McGregor was the better short-term option, and Usman’s title ‘would always be there’.
But ‘Gamebred’ has now had to re-evaluate his options, as he says McGregor doesn’t want the fight and will instead take easier opponents while he gets back up to scratch.
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‘Talking S***’
Since his emphatic 40-second knockout victory over Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, McGregor has kept quiet about his next opponent.
There have been rumours however involving Masvidal, Justin Gaethje and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
But Notorious has said he’d be willing to fight anyone.
The ‘BMF’ however says that’s not the case.
Speaking to ESPN’s Dan Le Batard, Masvidal said: “He’s talking a lot of s*** – he doesn’t want this,”
“He could have cut the sickest promo of his life and had everyone talking about it.”
“We kind of understand where he’s going.”
“There are certain things he said on the microphone like he doesn’t feel he’s up to speed and needs to work on this or that.”
“I get it, man.”
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‘No Rush’
Gamebred went on to say that there’s no rush for him to face McGregor, and he’ll go after Usman’s title while he waits.
“Go back in there, there’s no rush.”
“When you feel you’re ready for it, let’s do it.”
“I’ll go f*** up Usman, meanwhile.”
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‘Game Over’
Masvidal was ring-side as McGregor made his triumphant return to the Octagon, destroying Cowboy in under a minute.
He praised the Irishman on his physical form and skill, but says he brings things to the table that Notorious hasn’t seen before.
“He looked good and a considerable size from before,” Masvidal said.
“A lot of the stuff he’s always done he’s really good at,”
“There’s some elements that I bring that he’s never in his life experiences.”
“Like the sheer power that I have and explosion.”
“If I explode in his face, it’s game over, man.”
“He’s never felt power like this in his whole life.”
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‘The Biggest Fight’
While he’s happy to wait for the Dubliner, Gamebred reiterated his belief that a match-up would be the ‘biggest’ in combat sports.
He confirmed he’ll be ready to go once McGregor has found his feet again.
“The biggest fight in combat sports to make is that fight,”
“Conor’s been out for a while, he’s up another weight class.”
“Let the guy get his groove,”
“I’ll still be winning, then he’ll be knocking on my door.”
(Featured image source: Twitter/ BJ Penn and Forbes)