Watch: Jorge Masvidal's life gets turned into an arcade video game in tremendous BT Sport promo for UFC 261
Jorge Masvidal’s life and recent success have been depicted by way of an arcade video game in a tremendous BT Sport promo for UFC 261.
BT Sport has released a BT Sport Shorts video, a brief animation featuring Jorge Masvidal, ahead of his all-important main event matchup at UFC 261. Fans can watch the video below –
Jorge Masvidal’s comments have been used as the Voiceover (VO) for the video. Masvidal’s VO in the video narrates the story of how he went from being ‘the king of split decisions’ to ‘baptizing’ his foes. Masvidal stated –
“I’m hearing they’re calling me ‘Street Jesus’. There is a real Jesus. When he baptizes you, you go to heaven. Street Jesus, you get baptized by me, you know where you go, right? Shadow Realm, baby. Yeah, the Shadow Realm.”
“During my time away from the sport, I got to think a lot – Because I was in isolation a lot. I was spending a lot of time in nature, five-six hours a day. At night, I don’t sleep much. I would just stare at the stars, just thinking I’m the king of split decisions in the UFC. And I was there, laying there one night, started thinking about those decisions, like, ‘Man, if I had won that decision, where would I be in my career, right? And then I stopped myself and I go, ‘How about if I ended those dudes by baptizing them? Send them off to the Shadow Realm. Beautiful violence that I’m gonna display to the world’.”
“I like to call myself a Da Vinci of my craft, a Leonardo. Everybody has like, their art form and creative work. When you see me run at a dude and throw that knee, there was a lot of artwork behind that, you know. But I have practiced that motion, that knee, man, I can’t tell you how many times. Just in the fight camp leading up to that, forget about it, you know. This training is over, I still got energy, and then I’m gonna throw this one move for like 35 minutes till I got nothing left in the tank. And I hang out for a little bit, and then tonight when I go to the gym, I’ll warm up throwing the knee again, you know. But me hurting people and sending them to another realm, that’s a good combination, you know.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
The animated video harks back to Jorge Masvidal taking a hiatus from the sport in late 2017, spending time in isolation while filming a reality show in the jungles of the Dominican Republic, and rethinking his approach towards the sport. The video also features his eventual comeback and recent wins.
Jorge Masvidal’s comeback turned him into one of the biggest stars in combat sports:
Jorge Masvidal famously returned to the octagon with a second-round KO win over Darren Till at 'UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal' in March 2019. 'Gamebred' then handed Ben Askren his first pro-MMA loss, beating Askren via KO just 5 seconds into round one at UFC 239 in July 2019, scoring the fastest knockout in UFC history.
Following this, Jorge Masvidal defeated MMA legend Nate Diaz via third-round TKO at UFC 244 in their BMF title fight. 'Gamebred' then stepped in on just six days’ notice to fight Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight title at UFC 251 (July 2020).
Jorge Masvidal lost the fight via unanimous decision and failed to win the title. Nevertheless, he was praised for saving the fight card on such short notice. He'd stepped in to replace Gilbert Burns, who had withdrawn from the fight due to testing positive for COVID-19.
A veteran of the sport whose upcoming fight will be the 50th fight of his professional MMA career, Jorge Masvidal finally broke through as a global superstar after returning in 2019 and dominating his opponents. Presently, Gamebred is regarded as one of the top combat sports stars in the world.
At UFC 261 on April 24th, 2021, Jorge Masvidal faces Kamaru Usman in a rematch, with Usman’s UFC welterweight title on the line. Do you see Jorge Masvidal avenging his loss to Kamaru Usman and winning the UFC welterweight title? Sound off in the comments.
See here: What is Jorge Masvidal's salary?