Opinion: Reason why Jorge Masvidal doesn't need a win against Nate Diaz to be the real 'BMF' at UFC 244

At the age of 34, Jorge Masvidal has finally experienced what every fighter who enters the MMA scene wants from their time there — a headline-making year.

2019 has been the best year for the Welterweight fighter in his entire career. Looking back, it's hard to imagine the struggles he went through to reach where he is today. Long before coming to UFC, Askren has been fighting inside the MMA cage proving his mettle. In this article, we are going to take a brief look back at the carer of Jorge Masvidal and put forth our reason for saying that 2019 is indeed his year.

Starting at the bottom

As far back as 2003, an 18-year-old up-and-coming fighter named Jorge Masvidal entered the MMA scene. It was in AFC that he began his career. In fact, until 2006, AFC was his home and he fought there against each opponent that came his way, winning all but one fight in the company. He lost another fight in a separate promotion during this time as well.

In late-2006, he left the safety of Fort Lauderdale and fought and won in three BoDog fights in Costa Rica, Russia, and New Jersey.

Over the course of the next 6 years, Masvidal would fight for Strikeforce and Bellator among other promotions, racking up a record of 23-7 by 2012.

Jorge Masvidal joins UFC

In April of 2013, Masvidal made his debut in UFC and immediately picked up a win against Tim Means. This was followed by another win against Michael Chiesa, but just as it was looking like Masvidal was finally making progress and was about to break through, his run was interrupted by a loss in late-2013 against Rustam Khabilov.

This was the exact pattern his career would follow over the next five years.

Another three wins after this loss saw his streak interrupted by a loss to Al Iaquinta. A win against Cezar Ferreira would be followed by two back-to-back losses. Finally, a 3-fight win streak interrupted by another two back-to-back losses to Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson.

Each time he finally got the big fight that could see him make his name, he lost. However, he never gave up and bounced back each time.