Jorge Masvidal is being billed as the underdog in a potential welterweight clash against the reigning UFC champion, Kamaru Usman.
Masvidal has been one of the most successful fighters in 2019 after scoring three huge wins in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
After a scary knockout of Darren Till at UFC London, the Miami, Florida native rewrote the history at UFC 239, finishing Ben Askren in five seconds with a flying kick – the fastest knockout ever in the UFC.
Months later, Masvidal would capture the one-and-done ‘baddest motherf***er’ title, with a technical knockout win against Nate Diaz.
With such a heavy resume, Masvidal becomes the strongest candidate for the next welterweight title shot.
‘Gamebred’ and his camp have claimed that they are more interested with money fights than a shot at the welterweight belts against Usman.
But if the UFC gives him the next title shot, he would have to defy the odds to be crowned the next champion.
And Still
According to the opening odds released by BetOnline, Usman is -260 favourite in a potential welterweight title clash against Masvidal (+200).
Usman, also known as ‘The Nigerian Nightmare,’ saw action last weekend in the main event of the stacked UFC 245 fight card.
He fought the streaking Colby Covington in his first official title-defence since winning the welterweight championship earlier this year.
After going back and forth in four rounds, Usman turned the tide in the final frame, finishing his challenger with solid strikes in the ground.
It was Usman’s 15th straight win in his professional MMA career, 11 under the UFC banner, to go 16-1 overall.
Not Impressed
Despite this solid record, Masvidal is not impressed with the welterweight champion, saying he would not land any of his kicks in a future fight.
“Not at all,” he told MMA Fighting in a previous interview.
“I think there’s some things he does well, which is kind of stall. He just gets to a leg and takes guys down. I’m a fan of grappling but I like to see grappling offensively.”
“He can’t kick nothing. It’s like me saying there’s a MMA guy that’s a great, great boxer technique-wise, nah, it’s like he’s a great boxer for MMA.”
“Maybe Usman’s a good kicker for YMCA, the public club, but he’s not kicking me. The guy would never land a kick on me.”
Citing his accomplishments this year, Masvidal said he is on top of any guys at 170 pounds.
“What I did this year, I got three stoppages. They haven’t done that their whole career.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ UFC and Kamaru Usman)