American Top Team coach Mike Brown believes UFC welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal has earned a marquee fight.
Masvidal has not fought since July, when he lost a decision to Kamaru Usman in a short-notice welterweight title fight. Prior to that, he was riding stoppage wins over Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz, which turned him into one of the sport’s biggest stars.
While Masvidal doesn’t currently have a fight booked, Brown believes he’s earned a big opportunity.
“He’s finally in a place where he can make big money, and it should be something very big,” Brown told MMA Junkie about Masvidal. “It should be a title fight. It should be one of the biggest names in the sport. They should sell pay-per-views. It’s not a co-main event on a Fight Night. This should be a pay-per-view headliner against another equally big draw, and I think Jorge is probably the second-biggest draw in the sport probably to Conor (McGregor), honestly. And hopefully he is rewarded for what he’s done and what he’s created and is compensated appropriately.
“Jorge is in a place he has carved his own path and put himself in position more deserved than anybody,” Brown added. “This guy’s like a 50-fight veteran, fought everybody in the world for so long and done it all, I think it will be a very big fight. In his mind, I think he’s right. He wants somebody that will be very big, very entertaining, and where he gets the most money out of it.”
One option that’s often mentioned for Masvidal is a fight with his former training partner, Colby Covington. Brown seems to see that as a favorable possibility.
“You train like you always do, except now you know exactly what you need to do to train for, you know?” Brown said. “You know what the guy does, so it’s a little easier to fine tune the training. You know exactly what his strengths and weakness is. You’re not guessing. I guess it’s very black and white. You know exactly what you need to do, and I think it will be a little easier to train for, to be honest.”
Who do you want to see Jorge Masvidal fight next?