While many fans are happy that the UFC found a replacement for Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at UFC 205, Jorge Masvidal does not share their excitement.
Masvidal was booked to fight Kelvin Gastelum before Robbie Lawler dropped out of his scheduled fight with ‘Cowboy’, which became the genesis of ‘Gamebred’s’ grievance. Although the 31-year-old American Top Team standout and Gastelum had agreed to a fight last week, Lawler’s absence from UFC 205 took that all away.
And just like that, ‘Gamebred’s’ chance to inch closer to the top 10 in the welterweight division was gone.
Let's not forget, Gastelum was booked to fight @GamebredFighter on 11/5. According to his team, Masvidal wants @JohnyHendricks next. …
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 14, 2016
I'm told Masvidal is "fired up" right now. He really wanted that Gastelum fight. UFC working on finding him a new opponent.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 14, 2016
No word yet on a replacement for Masvidal, but according to several tweets by Ariel Helwani, ‘Gamebred’ was “fired up” and really wanted the fight with Gastelum. The UFC is in the process of finding him a new opponent, and according to Masvidal himself, Johny Hendricks would do just fine as a replacement.
Masvidal is 2-2 since going back up to 170 pounds from the lightweight division. He most recently defeated Ross Pearson by unanimous decision at UFC 201, but did score a brutal knockout victory over Cesar Ferreira last year that earned him a performance of the night bonus.
Many UFC fans may be unaware that Masvidal actually took Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley to a decision under the Shark Fights banner way back in 2010, and has bounced back and forth from welterweight to lightweight since the beginning of his MMA career. Hendricks has been on a downward slide ever since losing the welterweight title to Robbie Lawler at UFC 181. After scoring a decision win over Matt Brown, ‘Bigg Rigg’ was finished with strikes for the first time in his career at the hands (and feet) of Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.
Who do you have should the UFC grant ‘Gamebred’s’ request and book Masvidal vs Gastelum? Sound off in the comments section, PENN Nation!