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Sometimes big news comes from strange places. This time it’s from United Kingdom boxing sportsbook Betfred running into Jorge Masvidal in the bowels of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., moments after Saul “Canelo” Alvarez wrecked Avni Yildirim in three rounds (watch highlights here).
During that interview, Masvidal dropped a big nugget of news: he claims his next fight will be a rematch against Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, and the bout will go down in Sept. 2021.
“Right now, I’m focused on me, I’m fighting for the belt, which is going to be in August, September — actually September,” Masvidal said. “We actually just got word on this so you’re like the second person to know this right now and that’s just how luck works. Lot of MMA media gonna be mad I dropped it on yours first, boxing of all people. They’re going to call me a traitor.”
Don’t worry Jorge, we won’t tell ESPN’s Ariel Helwani if you don’t.
Usman reignited talks about a rematch with Masvidal following his extremely tough back-and-forth title defense against Gilbert Burns earlier in February. The champ came very close to getting knocked out in the first round on a pay-per-view (PPV) that we doubt made him a whole lot of money, and if he wants the biggest bang for buck at Welterweight right now it’s still “Gamebred.”
Nevermind that Masvidal hasn’t fought since the last time he faced Usman, which saw “The Nigerian Nightmare” foot stomp his way to a lopsided (but boring) 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 decision. “Gamebred” has been saying he’d have won if he had a full camp since the post-fight press conference. And now Usman says he wants the rematch so he can finish the lippy Masvidal and prove his detractors wrong.
Will Masvidal and Usman end up as coaches on the new season of The Ultimate Fighter? Masvidal gave no indication that was the case, but the timing certainly works out to film a season and air it before a September fight.
We’ll keep you in the loop as that story and this fight develops.
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