LAS VEGAS – Jorge Masvidal thinks he’s earned the next shot at the UFC welterweight strap – but “Gamebred” isn’t going to settle for anything less than his worth when fighting for a UFC title.
Saturday night, the MMA world exploded when Masvidal (34-13 MMA, 11-6 UFC) hit opponent Ben Askren (19-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) with a flying knee in the opening two seconds of their UFC 239 bout. The knee and haymaker follow-up shots transpired in the span of five seconds and registered as the quickest knockout in UFC history.
Masvidal, 34, has now won back-to-back fights for the first time since 2017. He’s been victorious in five out of his past seven bouts, with the only losses being decision defeats to Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson. Prior to the finish of Askren, Masvidal recorded a comparably violent knockout of Darren Till into the MMA history books.
With the winning streak, Masvidal is likely at least in the conversation for the next 170-pound title shot – a place he thinks he should have been after his knockout of Till.
“It should have been mine,” Masvidal said. “I don’t know. I’m not going to sell my soul, man. I know they go around sometimes telling, ‘Oh, you’ve got the title shot,’ then see who gives the best deal. I want to get paid for my services. I think I bring a real thing to this fighting thing, and that’s just baptizing people. I’m not God, but I’m putting mother(expletives) on another planet when I’m done with them.”
While he continued to make his case, Masvidal expressed the sentiment of substance over flashiness. The Miami native said he isn’t the biggest fan of pre-fight hype or Twitter feuds.
But when it comes time to throw down in a cage, Masvidal said he’s the one the UFC should be looking to bring the highlight reel.
“I don’t know if that’s (UFC president) Dana (White), if that’s (UFC VP) Hunter (Campbell), if that’s (matchmaker) Sean Shelby,” Masvidal said. “I don’t know (who) of them does it, but I think my body of work speaks for itself. If you want sheer violence, you know who to call. If you want other (expletive), (expletive) guys going to press conferences on time and posting on their (expletive), then you know who to call.
“But if you want someone who’s going to give this (expletive) violence, you know who to call.”
For complete coverage of UFC 239, check out the UFC results.
