'BMF' Jorge Masvidal will fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the Lightweight belt - but only on one condition
Jorge Masvidal's past success as a Lightweight both on and off UFC roster is no secret. He ran through the likes of Tim Means, James Krause, and Michael Chiesa before he settled for 170-pounds.
In reference to this previous performance, a fan recently asked the Masvidal if he would like to return to the 155-pound division for a super-fight with the Lightweight Champ Khabib Nurmagomedov once he claims the Welterweight belt from Kamaru Usman. 'Gamebred' shared his reply on his YouTube channel.
Masvidal would drop down if the money is right
The BMF titleholder does not have qualms about dropping down to 155-pound, but the money UFC pays him for that has to be good enough.
"The moolah’s gonna talk, man. 155 is such a battle with my weight. Once I’m at around 172 to 173 pounds, I’m at around five percent body fat already, six percent body fat. So I just don’t have a lot of room to play with and still get to 155. It’s a lot of water, it’s always been a lot of water. That doesn’t leave me the night of the fight in the best shape that I could possibly be, like how I compete at 170 and have that explosion, I can explode a little bit more and for longer. At ‘55 it would be a little different."
Masvidal admitted in his YouTube response that cutting down to Lightweight will not be the easiest task, but not an impossible one. However, he would only make his body go through the trouble if the reward is up to the mark.
"But that’s not to say I couldn’t win one and that I couldn’t make the weight,” Masvidal said. I would just have to be rewarded so motherf***ing handsomely for me to drop down to ‘55 and compete with anybody."
If he does get paid a lot to fight at Lightweight, Masvidal believes it will be a good opportunity for him to claim his fair due that he never got in that division.
"I would love to do it because I felt I never got my fair due shot at 155. I beat a lot of top class competitors before I came to the UFC at 155. They never gave me a shot to fight a top-10 guy. It wasn’t until I started fighting at 170 they gave me top-5 and top-10 guys. I never got I felt my fair due shot at ‘55. I beat a lot of good guys when I was down there, in the UFC as well."
But in the end, it all comes down to how much money UFC is dishing out. If he ends up defeating both Usman and Nurmagomedov (provided he does not lose the belt to Tony Ferguson before that), Masvidal will be the fifth UFC fighter to hold dual Championships simultaneously after Conor McGregor, Amanda Nunes, Henry Cejudo and Daniel Cormier.
H/t to MMA Fighting for the quotes.