Jorge Masvidal may have come off second best in his attempt to seize the welterweight title from Kamaru Usman at UFC 252 on Saturday night, but he’s already got his heart set on a rematch with him.
So much so in fact, that in a new interview Masdvidal claims he would rather have another chance to fight Usman than a money-spinning showdown with the sport’s biggest draw, Conor McGregor.
“Usman obviously, it’s a no-brainer,” Masvidal told ESPN when asked who he wants to fight next.
“Usman. Could they offer me bigger names and pay me more money? Yes. For a fact. But if it’s up to me, Usman.
“For me stepping up on six days’ notice when nobody else would. Because a lot of people are saying they would, but who else did it?
“Who else really actually asked Dana [White]?
“Who else was actually like, ‘Hey, if Masvidal doesn’t do it, I will do it, I’m right here, I’m ready to go, let’s do it.’
“If it’s up to me, of course, Usman right away. I don’t care if they could offer me a bigger fight or not. I would like to fight Usman.”
Masvidal had been in a war of words over his pay prior to his short-notice call-up to fight Usman, but after coming to a lucrative agreement ahead of what’s turned out to be one of the UFC’s biggest ever pay-per-view events, ‘Gamebred’ appears to no longer be motivated by just money alone.
“You could tell me that McGregor right now would make X, Y, Z dollars, the biggest pay-per-view event in history right, and I’m going to get paid forever.
“But I feel like I got compensated well enough now, that I keep making the right decisions that I’ve been doing, then this money is forever money.
“So it’s not about money. It’s about I want that damn belt and I’m stubborn. I know I’m better than Usman and I want to prove it. I want to fight again.
“I’m not going to take nothing from him. He won the first one. Let’s do it again. That’s it.
“After that, then we can start with whatever comes next after that, but Usman’s the thing that I want the most. The immediate rematch is Usman for me now.”
