UFC welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal has recently been campaigning for a fight with former two-division champ Conor McGregor. In fact, he says the only fights he’s willing to accept at this juncture are a fight with McGregor or a welterweight title shot.
Unfortunately for Masvidal, UFC President Dana White is not a fan of this matchup. The UFC boss also doesn’t think Masvidal is in a position to make ultimatums. He’ll reportedly be offered a fight imminently — but not with McGregor.
“You can’t make ultimatums,” White said after Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series (via MMA Fighting). “Listen, we’re going to offer him a fight, and if he accepts the fight, he does and if he doesn’t, he doesn’t.”
With McGregor off the table, and UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman seemingly tied up with Colby Covington, it’s hard to say who Jorge Masvidal will be matched up with next. Perhaps the most likely option, however, is his fellow contender Leon Edwards. The pair are perhaps the most heated rivals in the division, and even came to blows backstage at UFC London. They’re also ranked third and fourth in the welterweight division, so the winner of a prospective fight between them would almost certainly be next in line for a title shot.
That being said, Jorge Masvidal seems to be pretty keen on this fight with Conor McGregor.
“If he wants to come back and he wants somebody who’s gonna stand with him and give him the type of fights that he likes, look no further my brother,” Masvidal told TMZ recently. “Let’s not flirt with each other and all this sh*t. I’ve got a big buzz going on because I’m known and put people to sleep. You’ve got a huge buzz because you put people to sleep. Let’s do this. That’s it. It has to be no back and forth and all that flirty sh*t like we’re in high school. Let’s just scrap if we’re gonna scrap.”
Conor McGregor has not yet addressed the possibility of a fight with Jorge Masvidal.
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/7/2019.