Ben Knape
The future looks bright for Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal. After an incredibly dominant performance over Nate Diaz at UFC 244, Masvidal is on a three fight win streak and has had arguably the best year of anyone in the UFC. He kicked off 2019 with a matchup against Darren Till. Till was coming off a loss to Tyron Woodley, but was still one of the most hyped fighters in the division. Masvidal was definitely considered the underdog in this fight, but coming off a 16 month break, he made a huge mark on the division knocking Till out in round two.
And then… Ben Askren happened. Masvidal and Askren were set to face off at UFC 239 in July. While it wasn’t the main or even the co-main event, this was the matchup that fans were most interested in. Ben Askren was an undefeated fighter coming to the UFC via One Championship, an MMA promotion based in Singapore. Askren was a national champion in college wrestling, held a spot on the U.S Olympic team, was undefeated in MMA, and LOVED talking trash about Jorge. Masvidal didn’t take kindly to Askren’s comments and fired back some of his own in the months leading up to the fight. When they finally met that fateful day, July 6th, 2019, Jorge Masvidal knocked out Askren with a flying knee in the first seconds of the fight. The knockout was officially timed at 5 seconds, but really it was more like 2 or 3 seconds into the first round. Nonetheless, it is the fastest knockout in UFC history.
This immediately shot Masvidal into UFC superstardom, becoming the most talked about fighter in MMA. Nate Diaz took notice of Masvidal’s fighting prowess, and after a win over Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis called out Masvidal to fight him for the BMF (baddest motherf****er) title. Nate essentially willed the title into existence, saying that he was the toughest guy in the game, and wanted to fight the guy he thought most deserving. UFC president Dana White loved the idea as a marketing tactic and actually made a real belt for the fight.
When the time came, Masvidal rose to the occasion and wrecked Diaz with his clean boxing technique, and ferocious body kicks. The fight ended in the third round due to a doctor’s stoppage, but Masvidal looked so dominant it’s hard to imagine it would’ve gone any other way had the fight gone all five rounds.
It’s hard to say what’s next for Jorge, as he basically can fight anyone he wants. Some of the most likely options are looking like the winner of Usman vs. Covington at UFC 245, that would give Masvidal a shot at the welterweight belt which he has most definitely earned. Conor McGregor is also on the table, McGregor seemed to be into the idea of fighting the winner of the BMF belt. This would be a massive pay-per-view event and that means a lot of money in the bank for Masvidal. Nick Diaz, Nate’s older brother, also speculated that he would come back to fighting to take on Masvidal. This doesn’t seem like a great option for Masvidal, beating Nick doesn’t really do anything for him rankings or legacy wise, and he wouldn’t rake in as much money as he would against other opponents.
Regardless of who Masvidal fights next, make sure not to miss it because he always keeps things interesting.