Despite having handily defeated him in their first encounter last year on short-notice, welterweight champion Kamaru Usman again called out Jorge Masvidal following his successful title defense against Gilbert Burns recently, and it seems that the UFC are now close to making it happen.
That’s not to say that it’s been an easy fight to make though as earlier in the week Masvidal and seemed to suggest that Usman was backing out of fighting him again.
“That’s what I thought,” Masvidal wrote on Twitter. “Full camp he says nope! Got cold feet when you heard we said yes #freebritney.”
However, though that led fans to believe the rematch was dead in the water, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani has since given an update that suggests the match-up is very much alive.
“Don’t close the book on an Usman-Masvidal rematch just yet,” ESPN tweeted, alongside quote of Helwani telling Daniel Cormier on their podcast that, “This fight’s not dead. Honestly, I’d be shocked if this fight doesn’t happen… They’re pretty close from what I’m told.”
Masvidal only had a week to train for their last fight, but nonetheless it was a very one-sided bout that Usman dominated thanks to his wrestling skills, and so ‘Gamebred’ would likely have to make major adjustments in the rematch to end ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’s’ 17-fight unbeaten run.
