The next fight in UFC veteran Jorge Masvidal's career is pivotal. That's why he should drop everything and chase a money-spinning fight with cash cow Conor McGregor, rather than a welterweight title fight versus Kamaru Usman.
READ MORE: Jorge Masvidal 'will only accept fights with Conor McGregor or welterweight champ Usman'
Veteran Jorge Masvidal has his chill-inducing eyes fixed firmly on glory as he looks to capitalize on a red-hot run of form that has produced two of the UFC’s most stunning KO’s this year - against welterweight contenders Darren Till and Ben Akren - and catapulted him into an exclusive band of UFC players commanding center stage within the promotion.
The next fight in Masvidal’s storied, 16-year MMA career will be pivotal in cementing his legacy and also might just be the most talked-about in the sport. News recently surfaced that the Cuban-American is only targeting Irish former two-weight UFC champ Conor McGregor or Nigerian current welterweight king Kamaru Usman.
Masvidal should sideline designs on a UFC title fight with Usman in favor of following the “cash signs” in his eyes, and do everything to land a fight with the organization's golden goose McGregor. Here's why.
It’s now or never
A veteran of 47 professional MMA fights, Masvidal may never get another chance to make the money out of the fight game to set him for life. As the old saying goes: glory is permanent, but a few cool million in the bank would go a pretty long way too.
Masvidal came up the hard way. After learning his fighting craft on the streets of Miami he turned pro in 2003, aged just 18, and began trekking the long and unforgiving road to super stardom, fighting across four continents, traveling as far as Japan, Russia, Costa Rica and South Korea and the length and breadth of the United States in the process.
He deserves to have a shot that will set him for life; not least because he's maintained an attitude to fight anyone and anywhere, clocking up wins aside from his most recent conquests against credible opposition in 'Cowboy' Cerrone and Michael Chiesa to name just two.
A title shot against Usman guarantees a chance at glory, but McGregor is a fail-safe earner that will set him for life before he sets foot in the octagon, and one that he can hardly pass up at age 34. A fight against the man who commanded the most buys in UFC history at 2.4 million in his last outing, and a second-most in boxing history 4.3 million buys for his debut, will confirm a comfortable life well past Masvidal's fighting days.
In Masvidal’s own words: he’s been “doing this [fighting] a long time”, does he really want to make it much longer?
It’s a very winnable fight
The positives for Masvidal are stacked. If his frightening five-second KO of Ben Askren proved anything, it’s that trash talk only serves to fuel the Game Bred Fighter’s searing desire to put his opponents to sleep. That fact disarms Conor McGregor of his biggest weapon - his mouth - but will take nothing away from his ability to build up the fight.
Masvidal is already the bigger man with a three-inch height advantage and naturally sturdier build. Although UFC head honcho Dana White says Masvidal is "too big" for McGregor and that he “hates” the Irishman sizing up the organization's bigger men, he didn’t rule out entirely a jump up the divisions from McGregor ,saying he “does have the balls” to do so.It wouldn't be the first time McGregor would put blind belief in his 'cajones'.
Masvidal has already fought and disposed of bigger and stronger men, whereas McGregor, who began his UFC career in the 145 lbs featherweight division, looked a shell compared to the muscled Khabib Nurmagomedov on his way to a submission defeat in October.
Masvidal should not only make this fight his priority, but take into it a strong belief he can win and in style.
The fight makes sense for Conor, too
The fight business is fickle, and just over a year after an ascent that saw him become the biggest name in MMA, Conor McGregor, the former self-professed ‘Champ Champ’ is in serious danger of becoming the forgotten man of combat sports.
After suffering three defeats in his last four combat sports appearances, the last coming when he failed to win his old UFC lightweight title back nine months ago, McGregor is not unfairly portrayed as a little on the down side.
The Dublin man’s second ‘retirement’ wasn’t met with the media frenzy that surrounded his first, and served to measure the drop in his stock following his loss to Khabib in Las Vegas, conceding much popularity to the darkly entertaining Russian. Since then, Khabib has plainly stated a rematch is not in his interests, and currently has his hands full with Dustin Poirier on September 7 in Abu Dhabi.
The Irishman would be in serious danger of conceding even more fan interest by facing a fighter that fails to get the juices flowing. An extended absence has contributed to an 'out of sight, out of mind' mentality towards McGregor, and pushed him onto the periphery of fans' thoughts.
Jorge Masvidal, in the absence of a title fight for McGregor, would be the perfect antidote for ‘The Notorious’ and enable him to ride Masvidal’s coattails back into the big time.
Conor is out of form, and possibly out of shape
An extended break from the octagon will certainly have taken its toll on the inked-up body of McGregor. Taking time out could see the return of the infamous ‘wealth belly’ that first made an appearance after his mega-money crossover fight with filthy rich boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.
If social media is anything to judge by, McGregor's extra-curricular activities include merrily sampling his own brand 'Proper 12' whiskey - not exactly the past time of an elite athlete. His ominous hand injury from an apparent sparring accident also perhaps indicate wear and tear on the body, or susceptibility to injury coming from a lay-off stretching back to the back end of last year.
Masvidal meanwhile is riding the wave of two monumental wins, and is in the form of his life physically and, admittedly, mentally. McGregor will know that feeling well, from his own seven-fight winning streak from a 2013 UFC debut to his own blink-and-you'll-miss-it win against then-featherweight champ Jose Aldo.
He'll know that feeling of invincibility is a huge addition to Masvidal's arsenal, and could contribute to him being caught cold by a dangerous and in-form warrior should they meet.
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