Getty The BMF belt of Jorge Masvidal.
UFC superstar Jorge Masvidal made a cryptic move as Khamzat Chimaev mocked him with the BMF belt.
Masvidal has been out of action since his last outing against former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington at UFC 272 in March. Covington imposed his will on Masvidal throughout the bout to get a lopsided decision on the judges’ scorecards. It marked the third outing Masvidal dropped in a row, having lost to the former champion Kamaru Usman twice.
The heated rivalry between the best-friends-turned-enemies did not end inside the octagon as Masvidal allegedly assaulted ‘Chaos’ outside of a steak restaurant in Miami, Florida a few days after the defeat. As the legal proceedings continue, there has been no concrete update on who ‘Gamebred’ will fight in his comeback, although he got linked to a showdown with Gilbert Burns.
In the meantime, rising prospect Chimaev set the 170-pound division on fire, moving up to the third spot on the rankings. He has exchanged verbal jabs with Masvidal before, but it appears he has now upped the stakes in his latest shot.
Masvidal Makes Major Move After Chimaev Mocks Him With the BMF Title
On Oct. 24, ‘Borz’ took to his Instagram to troll Masvidal with a photo of himself holding the BMF title with only a ‘shush’ emoji. He did not expand further on his message.
Masvidal has not yet responded to Chimaev’s photo. In an interesting turn of events, the 37-year-old Florida native removed all posts from his Instagram account without any word on why.
Chimaev’s future in the welterweight division has been up in the air ever since he missed weight for his planned bout with Nate Diaz at UFC 279. Company president Dana White made it clear he would not force ‘Borz’ to move up and expressed interest in getting him matched up with Covington next in what would likely be a top contender contest.
Masvidal Fired Shots at Chimaev Before UFC 279
Chimaev earned the biggest win of his career in April when he defeated Burns in a close-fought war at UFC 274. He received praise from fellow fighters and fans for proving he had the heart to compete with the most elite competition.
However, his performance did not convince everyone he backed up the hype. In August, Masvidal shared his thoughts on Chimaev’s showing in the fight.
“That was supposed to be his coming out party and it didn’t go according to plan,” Masvidal told MMA Fighting. “A lot of people felt Gilbert won that fight — a lot of people still think Gilbert won that fight.”
“I don’t really think Khamzat is as good as they say he is. I’m more of a see then believe [guy] and I haven’t seen anything that makes me a believer in this guy yet. I, personally, would love to break his face. Once he starts selling pay-per-views and s*** like that, I wouldn’t mind breaking his f****** face.”
Chimaev did not take too kindly to Masvidal’s comments. On Aug. 5, he fired back with two photos of ‘Gamebred’ after he got knocked out by Usman.
“Wake up buddy @GamebredFighter,” he wrote.
Wake up buddy @GamebredFighter 😂
It remains to be seen whether a matchup between Masvidal and Chimaev would happen but it seems unlikely.