UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman raised eyebrows when he chose to call for a rematch with Jorge Masvidal, but he’s explained why.
Usman got what he wanted and will face Masvidal in the UFC 261 main event April 24 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
Although Usman scored a definitive unanimous decision win over Masvidal to retain his title last July, Masvidal took the fight on only six days’ notice, which had many people questioning if the fight would go differently had “Gamebred” been given a full camp. It’s a point that Masvidal himself drove home after the fight.
Since then, Usman defended his title for a third time by finishing Gilbert Burns last month at UFC 258, while Masvidal has yet to compete. Nine months after their first outing, the pair are set to run things back, and the bottom line is that Usman wants to prove Masvidal has no chance of beating him regardless of the circumstances.
“You said you wanted more than six days. Well, guess what? Now I’ve given you six weeks,” Usman told TMZ. “You asked for three, but I doubled it and gave you six, so April 24, this time there’ll be no excuse. That’s it; let’s go in. You know what I’m looking to do, put the nail in the coffin, so bring your best game.”
Usman added that without a clear first-time opponent to challenge him, he was in position to call his shot.
“Let’s be honest: If I had to pick, I can do whatever I want to do,” Usman said. “I’ve cleared the division up. Now it’s time to lap everybody. It’s like we’re running a race. Now I’m about to lap everyone, so I went in and told (UFC president Dana White), ‘Hey, give me him (Masvidal).’ He’s a tough guy. I know he’s a tough guy. Yeah, it’s risky, it’s dangerous, but guess what? I want to put the nail in that coffin once and for all. And that’s how that fight got made.”
With the likes of Leon Edwards and Colby Covington, both of whom Usman has defeated, and Stephen Thompson vying for title contention, Usman (18-1 MMA, 13-0 UFC) opted to rematch Masvidal (35-14 MMA, 14-8 UFC), who’s confident that he’s the better fighter.
But Usman begs to differ.
“It’s two things,” Usman said. “One, he either truly believes it, which I have to take very, very seriously, or he’s just too stupid to understand what’s happening right now. So I’ve got to believe it’s the first one, and I’ve got to take him at his word. He’s a very, very dangerous opponent. I never took that away from him. He did great things in 2019, but that was 2019. Now it’s time to come back to reality. It’s 2021, (and) his ship has sailed.
“I said it before: You’re a journeyman. Not in a disrespectful way because there’s nothing wrong with being a journeyman, but you’re a journeyman and that’s good, because that means you’re gonna win some, you’re gonna lose some. That’s OK. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but don’t try to pose as if you’re something more than that, as if you could dethrone the champion. Don’t try and do that.”
At UFC 261, Kamaru Usman aims to ‘put the nail in that coffin’ of Jorge Masvidal ‘once and for all’
