Jorge Masvidal has a big fight coming up against Gilbert Burns at UFC 287 — and if things don’t go his way, “Gamebred” could choose to hang up the gloves.
On the UFC 287 episode of Countdown, Masvidal (35-16) laid it out plain as day. “This could be the last one,” Masvidal admitted. “If I lose, I’m pretty much calling it quits. But a win against Gilbert means that things are headed in the right direction. So if I roll the dice and I do everything right, I’m going for it all. For one title, or many titles.”
As coach Boris Fernandez put it, after losing three in a row, Masvidal and his team are “nobodies.” “It’s operation winning now.”
Masvidal holds one title already, the UFC’s “BMF” (that’s “baddest motherf*cker”) belt, which was created specifically for his UFC 244 fight with Nate Diaz. The Miami native, 38, has not won since, losing three straight bouts including back-to-back title fights against Kamaru Usman.
Most recently, Masvidal fell to Colby Covington, then sought revenge weeks later in an alleged sucker-punching outside a Miami eatery. That issue is still before the courts, with Masvidal facing a number of charges stemming from the incident.
Despite those issues, Masvidal is arguably more successful than ever these days, launching a mezcal line, and a series of fight promotions including Gamebred FC, Gamebred Boxing, and Jorge Masvidal’s iKon FC. But he’s willing to continue on fighting if a shot at the title is in the offing — and given his history with Leon Edwards (who can forget the “three piece and a soda), one likely will be if Masvidal gets a win or two.
“I think I’m at my best right now,” Masvidal said during Countdown. “My mental, my physical; now I’ve got to go out there and prove it. I’ve got my back up against the wall but I get to start my resurrection here in Miami, Dade County, the city that birthed me, that made me, that molded me— so I’m more than excited. April 8, I give it all I got and I win, we keep rolling that dice until we get that f*cking belt.”
