Jorge Masvidal has given Conor McGregor a strong ultimatum in the lead up to Notorious’ return to the Octagon at UFC 246.
McGregor is set to make his UFC comeback on January 18 against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.
But the Irishman has been making a lot of noise elsewhere, including expressing his interest in Masvidal’s ‘BMF’ title.
Money Where His Mouth Is
‘Gamebred’ has now hit back, stating that McGregor needs to put his money where his mouth is or stop ‘flirting’ with him.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on ESPN, he said: “If the dude doesn’t want to fight, I’m not a bully man, go do your thing.”
“He doesn’t want this? I don’t give a f**k then, you don’t wanna fight, you don’t wanna fight.”
“Don’t flirt with me. You want it or you don’t.”
“Leave me the f**k alone if you don’t. I’m gonna go take care of [Kamaru] Usman.”
Impressive Records
Despite the strong words, Masvidal did state that he’d be keen to step into the Octagon with McGregor, and showed admiration for the 31-year-old’s career.
He said: “Yes, I would want that fight. It’s a big money fight.”
“It’s a dude that’s a two-time division champion.”
“He has some impressive records, and he comes to fight man, so in that aspect, yes.”
“And we’re going to both f*****g sell out wherever we’re f*****g fighting at, and it’s going to be violence.”
Masvidal coming off the back of an incredible 2019, with victories over Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz topping off a hugely successful year in the Miami-fighter’s career.
The 35-year-old now looks a hot prospect for a welterweight title shot against Kamaru Usman.
McGregor has also expressed interest in facing Usman for the title, but Masvidal has dismissed the Dubliner as a contender and insists he is calling the shots in the division.
Talking about the prospect of a McGregor-Usman title fight, he said: “[McGregor] was talking about he wants the title fight with Usman,”
“No, no.”
“At [170-pounds], the way I am, I’ll decide when Usman will fight, who he’s gonna fight, all that s**t.”
“Everybody knows that. [Usman] might have the f*****g belt, but I’m the one calling the f*****g shots.”
High-Profile
McGregor will return to the Octagon to face Cerrone a week on Saturday in the main event of UFC 246 in Las Vegas.
Should he prevail, it will be interesting to see the next move for two of the UFC’s most high-profile fighters.
(Featured image source: Twitter/ Jorge Masvidal and Instagram/ Conor McGregor)