Champions rarely need to call challengers, but UFC welterweight king Kamaru Usman had just one name in mind after dispatching Gilbert Burns in his last title defense.
Moments after raising his hand in the UFC 258 main event, Usman turned his attention to former opponent Jorge Masvidal, who gave him more than a few pitches on social media.
Despite the fact that he largely dominated Masvidal in his previous encounter at UFC 251, Usman still feels that he has unfinished business with champion “BMF” because of the circumstances surrounding that particular fight.
“I said to put a little respect in my name for a reason,” Usman said at the UFC 258 post-fight press conference. “That fight, he had an excuse built up. That is the only reason he fought. We tried to do this fight twice before. He said no. When Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and I think it was [Tony] Ferguson fell, we tried. I called the dance [White] and I said ‘hey, it’s two weeks’ notice, I haven’t really trained, but I’ll intervene if I need to’ and they tried to make that fight, but Masvidal said no.
“He gave an interview where he said ‘oh, the numbers weren’t right and this and that.’ He’s saying no. The only reason he fought on Ilha da Luta is because it was a constructed excuse. He was training all the time, but he is saying ‘I only had six days in advance, that’s why it was like that.’ “
The UFC had previously tried to schedule the fight, including negotiations with Masvidal for the fight last July, which was supposed to be the card’s main attraction at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately, the two sides did not reach an agreement and Gilbert Burns was elected the No. 1 contender.
Unfortunately, Burns fell off the card after testing positive for COVID-19 and Masvidal was guaranteed a late substitution before losing on Usman’s unanimous decision.
Although nothing was ideal about how the fight took place, Usman says Masvidal’s claims that he only had six days to prepare or even solve the problems he faced before the same event.
“You would think he learned that the first time because I dealt with worse things,” said Usman. “Everyone was saying ‘oh, he accepted the fight six days in advance’, but guess what? I got six days’ notice. I was here in Las Vegas flying back home. They called me while I was in between Dallas fights. I had to leave my luggage, leave the airport, call my parents to pick me up at the airport, they picked me up, went straight to Target, bought a scale, got on the scale. Not to mention that I ate like a pig the night before because I said I didn’t have a fight. I have 195 pounds when I get on the scale.
“Call the coach over there, Tony Cabello, I said ‘hey Tony, we need to work out’. I exercised like crazy that night, lost about five or six pounds, then got on the scale, said we are close. The next day, he flew back to Las Vegas and then flew to Abu Dhabi. I had about four days, I didn’t sleep at all to prepare for that fight and he had an excuse built. “
Regardless of the circumstances, Usman won the fight and looked like he was at peace with Masvidal after spending 25 minutes together in the cage.
That mutual respect apparently faced in the weeks and months after the event ended and Usman is now more determined than ever to fight Masvidal again to prove that he is a superior fighter.
“‘Oh, I accepted the fight six days in advance, give me three weeks and see what I will do.’ I’ll give you an entire training camp, ”said Usman. “This time I really want to stop him because I think it’s the only thing that will shut his mouth. Pretending to walk around here like Jesus or something. Well, this time I’m going to put it in a coffin.
“This time I will stop you. I promise. That’s why I was disappointed in myself in that last fight, because I know I can stop it, but with all the circumstances that happened, I just went there and dominated it from start to finish. This time, I will stop him if he wants to step forward. “
The challenge is done, but Usman is still not convinced that a rematch with Masvidal is really going to happen.
While Masvidal’s management team was already summoning Usman’s fight after possibly serving as coach for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, the current welterweight champion is not so sure that this is more than just talking.
“He doesn’t want that fight. I guarantee he doesn’t want that fight, ”said Usman. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t want to. Have I ever lied to you? About anything? Nothing.
“I said what I wanted to do and that’s what I’m going to do. Let’s see if that materializes. “