"UFC was just kind of blackballing me" - Jorge Masvidal on why it took so long for his career to skyrocket

Jorge Masvidal opens up about being blackballed by the UFC [Photo credit: YouTube.com]

Jorge Masvidal wasn't really a household name until he was in his mid-30s when he strung together a series of spectacular finishes.

However, Masvidal believes he could've risen to stardom much earlier in his career had the UFC gotten behind him earlier. During an interview with Yahoo! Sports during the UFC 272 media day, 'Gamebred' explained:

"It wasn't until months ago the UFC got behind me. They didn't give a f*** about me then. I have beaten everybody in Strikeforce except one guy – Gilbert Melendez. We went to a five-round fight and all the guys I have beaten came over and fought ranked opponents. The UFC, not only did they bring me much much later, but they didn't give me a ranked opponent... Unranked, unranked, unranked. As a matter of fact, I haven't fought a ranked opponent at 155 until I beat many great guys that did become ranked fighters, that did challenge for titles at 155. So I just think for the longest time the UFC really was just blackballing me to a certain extent."

Check out Jorge Masvidal's interview below:

Masvidal's best year was in 2019 when he scored three straight finishes against Darren Till, Ben Askren, and Nate Diaz. However, he has yet to win a fight since as he's coming off back-to-back losses to Kamaru Usman.

Jorge Masvidal's new contract "pays him like a champion"

Jorge Masvidal has signed a new contract with the UFC just days before his highly anticipated showdown against rival Colby Covington.

New fight contract that makes jorge top 3 highest paid in ufc. Good work team! Thank you @ufc and hunter Campbell specifically for working on this contract with us. #ppvmonster #baseguarantees #top3 twitter.com/gamebredfighte…

Details regarding the deal were not disclosed. However, Masvidal's agent Malki Kawa recently revealed that 'Gamebred' is now the third highest-paid athlete on the UFC roster, presumably next to Conor McGregor and Israel Adesanya.

The CEO of First Round Management told ESPN:

"His contract pays him like a champion and then some. And the length of time will be that he will finish his career in the UFC."

On top of that, Masvidal revealed that he will be getting pay-per-view points for Saturday's event in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, 'Gamebred' also indicated that his opponent won't.