Jorge Masvidal is a man of many hats nowadays.
The two-time UFC title challenger is not only continuing his professional fighting career as one of the biggest names in the sport, but he’s also now serving as fight promoter. Masvidal (35-16 MMA, 12-9 UFC) is the owner of MMA promotion iKon FC, and he’s very much hands-on with the venture.
Masvidal feels he’s got a different approach to the fight game than most promoters, and has a specific vision for what his company could be in the future. It is why he decided to get involved with iKon FC.
“My entire life has been fighting and that’s all I know, that’s what I’ve studied the most,” Masvidal told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I have an eye to spot talent, so I’d like to look at fighters and see if they have the potential, the right attitude against a person.
“I have a formula for that, and iKon shows you that theory of mine that I have in my head of how I think and how me and my team works. We’re doing well, and I want to continue to bring my ideas, theories, and my math on paper and making it a reality via iKon.”
Masvidal has hosted five events with iKon FC. The organization’s sixth event is scheduled to go down Dec. 2 in Orlando, Fla.
Masvidal is well aware of the iKon’s position in the industry. He’s not going to pretend to be the best, but his primary goal is to make sure that there’s real, legit prospects fighting under his roof.
“Right now, it’s getting the stars of tomorrow and then have them go to the UFC, but have them come through my promotion first. … And something I don’t want, is to have people come to build records. Sure, it can happen, say someone is debuting, or they’re maybe coming off bad losses and need an easier fight, but generally I want to put on fights. I want to put a dog vs. a dog, so the people know there’s no politics in this of agencies or companies. I just want to grab the best people outside the UFC and put them against each other.”
Masvidal is arguably the biggest Hispanic name in MMA currently. He welcomes all talent to his promotion, but specifically he’d love to find a prospect who shares a similar background to him and have them be the next star in the sport.
“I’d love to find the Latin American stars of the future,” Masvidal said. “Like you’ve said, I’ve always been proud of my roots. My native tongue is Spanish, I didn’t speak English until I was 12, 13 years old, so Spanish is a day to day for me. My dad speaks mainly Spanish and my mom as well, so it’s very easy for me to manage the language. But yeah, we’re always looking for talent in Central America, the Caribbean, South America. We have a few Brazilians on our card that bring the fire and a few other Hispanics.”
Jorge Masvidal explains decision to get into promoting with iKon FC: ‘I have an eye to spot talent’