LONDON – The trash talk has been kept at a minimum between Jorge Masvidal and opponent Darren Till ahead of their Saturday fight, and that’s just fine with him.
Masvidal (32-13 MMA, 9-6 UFC) meets Till (17-1-1 MMA, 5-1-1 UFC) on Till’s home England turf in the UFC on ESPN+ 5 welterweight main event. Till will be trying to rebound from a title loss this past fall.
And it was pointed out at a media day for the event today that he’s been mostly respectful. And that is something Masvidal said he can get behind in an era when talking trash tends to help pay the bills for fighters a little faster.
“I could talk if I wanted to, but what am I going to say? ‘Oh, you’re a punk,’ and then he calls my mom names? It’s (expletive) childish,” Masvidal said. “I get it – the 17-year-olds are (expletive) eating this (expletive) up, and maybe a little bit older than that – maybe some people never got out of high school. But if it’s not like a genuine dislike between two people, and it’s not creative, either, where it’s just that annoying (expletive)-talk – ‘You’re an idiot.’ ‘Well, you’re stupid.’ – it’s (expletive) so stupid, man.”
Masvidal and Till headline UFC on ESPN+ 5, which takes place Saturday at The O2 in London. The card streams on ESPN+.
Masvidal will be attempting to end a two-fight skid of losses to another pair of recent title challengers, Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson. A win would be his first in more than two years. He didn’t fight throughout 2018.
The irony behind Masvidal’s apparent hatred of the trash talk game, at least when it’s not genuine, is that one of his friends and teammates at American Top Team, Colby Covington, arguably is one of the tops in the game at it right now.
So when MMA Junkie asked Masvidal how he reconciles his overall stance toward the trash-talking game and his friendship with Covington, he admitted it’s something he has to deal with.
“Colby’s a particular case because we’ve been friends for a long time,” Masvidal said. “I’ve known him six years, plus. So it’s more than just teammates – we’re good friends, and he’s doing his thing. Am I a fan of that? I mean, whatever – it’s not really what I care for. Everybody’s doing it. It’s not just Colby. I don’t want to just pick on Colby. Everybody’s doing it.
“Can you get mad at Colby because he wants to put extra money in his pocket? No. But when you think about it, everybody’s going to be doing it? What the (expletive), man? Nobody has a little bit of personality? Nobody’s like, ‘I’m going to be myself today; I’m not gonna insult your mom.’ It’s corny, and it’s only going to get worse. We’re seeing it more and more. And I know you guys do it because the clickbait works so well and the fans eat it up.”
For more from Masvidal, check out the video above.
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