Jorge Masvidal has revealed that Conor McGregor has opted to fight Tony Ferguson instead and ‘shot down’ negotiations to fight ‘Gamebred’. It seems that a UFC mega-fight between Masvidal and McGregor is highly unlikely to happen with the American claiming a loss for the Irishman would be ‘bad for his brand’.
McGregor ‘Shot Down’ A Potential Fight With Me – Jorge Masvidal
BMF Champion and former UFC Welterweight Title challenger Jorge Masvidal has claimed that Conor McGregor has ‘shot down’ a potential fight with him. The American MMA star has revealed in a recent interview with sports journalist Ariel Helwani that the Irishman is afraid of damaging his legacy and that a loss to ‘Gamebred’ would be “bad for his name”.
The potential fight was brought to light after McGregor hinted at a return to the UFC before the end of the year. The 34-year-old has been back in training and looks to be getting back into some type of fighting shape ahead of his highly anticipated return to the octagon.
The former-two weight UFC champion is set to make a return to the octagon at some stage this year. However, it seems highly unlikely that Masvidal is the chosen opponent for McGregor’s return bout. Instead, it looks like ‘Notorious’ may opt for a fight with veteran Tony Ferguson, as well as being one of the coaches on the next ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ series.
In a recent interview with MMA Hour, Masvidal shared his frustrations about the McGregor fight not happening and believes that we may never see the pair face-to-face inside the cage now:
“I want Conor, but Conor doesn’t want me, it sucks.
“He just doesn’t want it. Every time the UFC’s brought it up, he shoots it down. I don’t know why. I think I’m bigger, I think I’m quicker than him, and we both know I hit harder than him.
“So, I get it, stylistically, it’s not the best for him or his brand.
“Not only am I going to beat the f***ing brakes off of him, but I’m going to do it in a way that’s not good for his brand. I’m going to do it on my feet.”
It seems from the outside looking in that Masvidal is very much all for a fight with McGregor. Who knows, it may well happen in the future but for now it looks highly unlikely for McGregor’s return to the octagon at the back end of 2023.
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Jorge Masvidal on a fight against Conor McGregor: "He just doesn’t want it. Every time the UFC’s brought it up, he shuts it down" 👀 #TheMMAHour
"I think I’m bigger, I think I’m quicker than him, we both know I hit harder than him."
▶️ https://t.co/exUGTJ3qJj pic.twitter.com/Nfy96hXYbM
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) January 30, 2023
Conor McGregor To Face Tony Ferguson Before End Of 2023
Instead of the Jorge Masvidal fight that seems like it is highly unlikely to ever happen, Conor McGregor could well face UFC veteran and former Interim Welterweight Champion, Tony Ferguson. If that fight is made, the Irishman would be an overriding favourite with the best UK sports betting sites.
Ahead of his highly anticipated return to action, McGregor could be on course to coach on the new season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ too. If him and the California man are to fight one another next, then it makes complete sense for the pair to be the next two coaches on the UFC TV series as well.
As of yet there hasn’t been any official announcement that McGregor vs Ferguson is 100% happening. However, the fight makes sense and could be one final payday for ‘El Cucuy’ before his inevitable retirement in the not so distant future.
Ferguson has lost his last five fights in a row – three of which were stoppage defeats. McGregor hasn’t been in great form either it must be said. The Irishman has won just once since 2016 and will see the UFC veteran as a great opponent to get back to winning ways against as well as holding value with a pay-per-view name.
Hopefully this is just the beginning of the return of ‘Notorious’ and we see him in action at least twice in 2024 too. A win against Ferguson followed up by huge fights against the likes of Michael Chandler or of course Jorge Masvidal could set McGregor up for a shot at Leon Edwards for the UFC Welterweight Title in the future.
For now though, lets keep our fingers crossed that Conor McGregor is back in action at some stage later this year. UFC fans can avail of various UFC free bets by checking out the SportsLens website.
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