"You got to fight him before the Usman-Edwards rematch is announced" - Daniel Cormier lays down path to another title shot for Jorge Masvidal
Jorge Masvidal has eyed the UFC welterweight title since Kamaru Usman's reign. His attempts at winning the championship have been foiled twice by 'The Nigerian Nightmare'. But now that Leon Edwards is atop the welterweight mountain, Masvidal sees an opening again.
Former double champ Daniel Cormier weighed in on Masvidal's chances and laid out a path to the title for 'Gamebred'. Cormier posted a clip from his YouTube channel that was addressed to the BMF champ and said:
"You gotta fight Gilbert Burns right now. You got to accept that fight. I don't know if you've been offered the fight, I don't know if the legal issues are keeping you from taking the fight. But Gilbert Burns is out there saying that the fight's been offered, he's out there saying publicly that it's just on you."
'DC' stated that Masvidal would have to fight No.4-ranked contender Gilbert Burns to stake a claim for the title. He urged him to accept the fight if it was on the table before explaining his reasoning:
"And I know Jorge Masvidal is a street dude from Miami and does not run from a fight. But if you want that title fight, you got to fight Durinho right now! And you gotta win. But you also gotta do one more thing. You gotta fight him before the Usman-Edwards rematch is announced, the trilogy. You gotta be going in the right direction by the time that that fight gets announced so that if given the opportunity, you can capitalize on the chance, just like you did in the first title fight."
Fighting before a potential trilogy improves his chances of being considered in the likely event that either fighter pulls out of a title bout. Cormier asked Masvidal to position himself appropriately to pounce on any given opportunity.
Check out the video from Daniel Cormier on Twitter:
Jorge Masvidal calls out Leon Edwards after his championship win
Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards have history. For Masvidal, Edwards' championship would be the perfect incentive to demand a fight and capitalize on their past.
The two had an altercation on the night of a UFC London event in March 2019. Masvidal had upset the English crowd by knocking out Darren Till in the main event and proceeded to further rile the locals up by going after 'Rocky' backstage.
'Gamebred' caught Edwards out by surprise and landed a couple of quick strikes at him.
Watch their backstage skirmish below:
The BMF champion then labeled his combination against the newly-crowned welterweight champion a 'three-piece and a soda'. The same phrase made a comeback after Edwards was crowned welterweight champion at UFC 278.
Jorge Masvidal took to Instagram to post a story in the aftermath of Edwards' win against Kamaru Usman. He used his phrase to hint at a possible first meeting inside the octagon for the two welterweight rivals.
He wrote:
"I heard we going to London again [England flag] [three chicken pieces] [soda]"
Check out his Instagram story below: