Colby Covington, Nate Diaz, King Kong — for the right money, UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal is willing to fight anyone.
Anaheim, CA — Before Nate Diaz had called him out, Jorge Masvidal stopped by backstage at UFC 241 on Saturday, speaking to reporters including Cageside Press about his newfound fame. What resulted was one of the more entertaining chats of the night. Masvidal is currently working with the UFC on what comes next, after he shot to fame (despite having been in the fight game for ages) following finishes of Darren Till and Ben Askren.
“It’s f*cking amazing man. People know me everywhere I go. I got to get coffee somewhere, and 45 minutes I get held up,” Masvidal exclaimed, before correcting himself. “I’m being sarcastic obviously. I don’t make the 45 minutes, [but] anywhere I go now, I get held up. But it’s cool man. I’ve been doing this for a long time. This is one equation of it, the other equation is my next paycheck is going to reflect the breakthrough that I’ve done. For a fact.”
“And if it doesn’t,” he added, “it’s going to be a fucking problem man.”
In short, “me and my management are going to do whatever the f*ck I say,” said Masvidal. Then, for emphasis, “I’m going to repeat that again: me and my management will do whatever the f*ck we think is the best option for us. Without a doubt.”
It doesn’t matter who comes next. If the money is right, “if they open up the checkbook, I will fight King Kong in his prime.”
Masvidal believes the press is suddenly interested in him because they can earn a few extra clicks off his notoriety. But a legitimate question is, why now? Masvidal is a veteran of the sport, a pro since 2003. “A lot of things happened, but besides God aligning things for me, people like sheer violence. I’m gonna just keep giving it to them as much as I can. That’s it. Because I want to create this buzz, so the paychecks align with it. I’m gonna keep hunting people Mike Tyson style, get them out of there real quick.”
Like opponent, the date of his return means little to him. “The date that has the most 0’s attached to that check. Is it tomorrow in the parking lot, or December? It doesn’t matter to me. Let’s just line them up, get these 0’s the the checks.”
Because they share a gym, talk of Masvidal and Colby Covington continues to swirl. Asked when he last spoke to the man likely to get the next welterweight title shot, Masvidal revealed that “I haven’t talked to Colby in over a year. Like a conversation on the phone or nothing. I see him at the gym, ‘yo what’s up? What’s up?’ That’s about it.”
Covington has been playing the bad guy of late. But that’s a role Masvidal sees as a more natural fit for himself. “He knows never in my life have I a been a superhero. I would love to be, but I’ve never been a superhero,” Masvidal said. “I’m more of a gooned-down motherf*cker. So Colby kind of has to slow down at some point. Because he knows I’m not a superhero, I’m more of a supergoon, at least in the real-life sh*t.”
Thus, if the right number of 0’s were attached, he’d fight his teammate. In way of answer, Masvidal made a gun sign. Covington would be just another victim, it seems.
Watch the full UFC 241 media scrum with Jorge Masvidal above!
