Getty Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal
While there have been talks about UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman and the No. 3 contender Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal fighting in UFC 249 to save the card, nothing has been confirmed. However, the bad blood between the two is evident and the fighters haven’t stopped hyping up a potential fight.
Gamebred recently posted a video on YouTube taking shots at the “multiple personalities of Kamaru Usman.” In the video description field, Masvidal wrote, “Kamaru Usman has 57 fake personalities and not one of them is made for TV.”
Here is the video:
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A Match Between Kamaru Usman & Jorge Masvidal Has Been in the Making for Months
A fight between Usman and Masvidal has been in the cards for a while. Many believe that Gamebred should be the next contender to fight The Nigerian Nightmare for the welterweight title — UFC president Dana White even confirmed that the fight was in the works for the fight card in July. But that was before the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in the United States.
Even though the UFC is adamant that it’s going ahead with April 18’s UFC 249, it’s unclear what the future holds for the mixed martial arts event. With the public health issues that are raised for putting on events and social distancing recommendations limiting the amount of individuals that can gather publicly, the two men may not face off in the Octagon for a while.
The UFC’s fan experience week, coined International Fight Week, takes place in early July each year. But if social distancing and regulations continue, the UFC will have no choice but to cancel the fan expo.
From a Rankings Standpoint, Usman and Masvidal Makes a Lot of Sense
In March 2019, Kamaru Usman won the welterweight championship at UFC 235 by defeating then-champ Tyron Woodley. The Nigerian Nightmare then went on to defeat Colby Covington in his first title defense at UFC 245 in December 2019.
As per the official UFC rankings, Jorge Masvidal is ranked No. 3 behind Covington, who is No. 2, and Woodley, who is No. 1.
Since Usman has defeated the two other men, a fight between the champ and Gamebred makes a lot of sense. Masvidal is coming off a fantastic 2019, with knockout victories over Darren Till and Ben Askren as well as a doctor’s stoppage win over Nate Diaz.
There is a lot of excitement around Masvidal, and from a marketing standpoint, he can be slotted into a UFC PPV main event card and likely do well for the promotion.
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