UFC 287: The end could be near for Jorge Masvidal, but he's confident he'll be around a while longer
The beginning for Jorge Masvidal came in Miami, scrapping in what were essentially street fights on hardscrabble dirt and rock back yards under the supervision of the legendary Kimbo Slice.
It's odd that it might all end in Miami, too.
Masvidal will fight Gilbert Burns on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 287, needing a win to not only keep alive his dream of a bout with welterweight champion Leon Edwards, his bitter rival, but also to avoid the first four-fight losing streak of his career.
Burns is nearly a 5-1 favorite to win, though Masvidal laughs that off.
"Oh, we're going to clean Vegas out," Masvidal said at media day Wednesday when he was asked about the odds against him.
He's beaten the odds repeatedly in his career. He's overcome an enormous amount to just make it to the UFC. He was a 17-year-old sitting in the crowd April 25, 2003, when Matt Hughes defeated Sean Sherk in the main event of UFC 42, the last time the company was in Miami.
He suggested on the "UFC Countdown" show that he may retire if he doesn't defeat Burns.
“This could be the last one,” Masvidal said on the show. “If I lose, I’m pretty much calling it quits. But a win against Gilbert means that things are headed in the right direction. So if I roll the dice and I do everything right, I’m going for it all.”
Few love to fight as much as Masvidal. It's what fuels him and gets him out of bed in the morning. He's become one of the sport's biggest stars and attracts attention wherever he goes. He's financially secure for life, parlaying his UFC notoriety into business success.
He's becoming a promoter now and was thrilled with the boxing card he put on last week, which featured ex-UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis defeating the legendary boxer Roy Jones Jr.
"Crazy, right? Pettis beating Roy Jones Jr.," Masvidal said. "Obviously, it wasn't Roy Jones Jr. of Roy Jones Jr., because ain't nobody beating that guy."
Like Jones, Masvidal has become something of an elder statesman in the sport. Unlike Jones, whose prime was probably 25 years ago, Masvidal believes he still has plenty of fight in him. But as he sees the sport grow and the talent base increase, he's eager to share what he learned.
He spoke of the challenge that ex-middleweight champion Israel Adesanya faces in the main event Saturday when he rematches Alex Pereira six months after Pereira knocked him out for the second time. He riffed on whether Adesanya was coming back too soon. He called Adesanya "a special talent" and said if anyone could pull it off, it would be Adesanya. Yet, he said he had to go with Pereira to win.
Raul Rosas, the 18-year-old who will open the main card Saturday in a bantamweight bout against Christian Rodriguez, wasn't even alive the last time the UFC was in Miami. He's got incredible amounts of talent, but talent is only one part of success, Masvidal said.
Asked what advice he'd give Rosas, Masvidal had a quick answer.
"Train," he said. "Train. Train. Train. Train. Just when you think you've done a lot, train some more. Forget about the world. Forget about the outside sh**. This sport is very demanding and the only way you fly in this sport is by staying in shape. The only way you stay in shape in this sport is not about putting out Instagram posts and this and that. It's about getting out there, getting in the gym in the morning, the midday and the night. Find some time for recovery and you do that and then repeat it the next day and the next day and the next day.
"Then you cross your fingers and you hope that all this hard work you put in pays off in the fight. Even then, it's not guaranteed. Just put your hard hat on, put your mouthpiece in and get to work."
It's what he's done for all of his career, and now he faces a unique challenge against Burns. Masvidal got into it with Edwards back stage at an event in the U.K. after Masvidal had beaten Darren Till on March 16, 2019. Edwards walked past where Masvidal was doing the interview and said something. Masvidal walked over with his hands behind his back and then landed a combination he famously called, "a three-piece and a soda."
He desperately wants a shot at Edwards and needs a win over Burns to get it. He raved about Burns' talent, but told Yahoo Sports the matchup is a good one for him.
"He's not the best wrestler or the most conditioned," Masvidal said of Burns. "He throws bombs and he throws hard when he has a little bit of gas in him, but he does make a lot of mistakes in the stand-up. There is a science behind it. It's not close your eyes, tuck your chin and swing away. There's traps, there's set-ups, there's movement, there's rhythm, there's angles. You mix all of that in there and Gilbert seems kind of lost when he has a competitor who can do that stuff. There's a reason he's been dropped with a jab two or three times, and it's because he doesn't respect the fundamentals of fighting.
"Come [Saturday], I'm going to expose all these weaknesses and mistakes and registered trademarks he does in there. It's going to all be to my advantage."
