From $500 backyard brawls in Miami to an MMA star who’s earned $3.4m, Jorge Masvidal has built his legacy on a willingness to fight ANYBODY… now the American make his long-awaited return to the octagon at UFC 287
- Jorge Masvidal is making his long-awaited return to the UFC octagon this week
- The American will take on Gilbert Burns in a mouth-watering welterweight clash
- Here, Sportsmail takes a look at the eventful backstory behind the UFC fighter
Jorge Masvidal makes his long-awaited return to the octagon as he takes on Gilbert Burns at UFC 287 on Saturday night.
‘Gamebred’ hasn’t stepped foot inside the cage since his unanimous decision defeat by welterweight contender Colby Covington in March last year.
However, you’d be a fool to rule out Masvidal, who has managed to create a legacy upon his willingness to share the cage with anyone and determination to win.
Forged from the backyard fights in Miami-Dade County, Masvidal’s attitude has seen him have run-ins with UFC stars both inside and outside the octagon for years now.
And so, here, Sportsmail takes a look at the incredible backstory behind the 38-year-old ahead of his imminent UFC return.
Jorge Masvidal is making his long-awaited return to the UFC octagon at this weekend’s event
STREET FIGHTING
If you’ve been a fan of the UFC for a while and you’re familiar with Jorge Masvidal, then his history with street fighting should come as no shock.
The American has often claimed that his passion for mixed martial arts has kept him from a life of crime and that was certainly true in his early fighting days.
Prior to his UFC fame, Masvidal would partake in backyard fights in neighbourhood’s across Miami to try and earn some extra money.
In an interview with The Sun last year, he revealed: ‘We were placing wagers and bets, you know. My buddy would put $500 to see if the other side want to put up $500.
‘Things like that, so not to brag but it wasn’t s*** money, man. It wasn’t nothing. It was more for the journey.’
It certainly was a journey for Masvidal, who ended up being invited to fight in the backyard of combat star Kimbo Slice.
Slice, who passed in July 2016, had built a reputation from hosting brawls within his backyard, posting them on to YouTube and gaining thousands of views.
It was a massive moment in Masvidal’s fighting career and one that he could not refuse.
Speaking on the opportunity, he told The Sun: ‘It was crazy, one day he was like, ‘Hey, do you want to come fight on my show, in my backyard? And I was like, ‘Holy smokes, that’s nuts, man.’
The American fighter (right) made a name for himself through backyard fights across Miami
His most notable street fight came in Kimbo Slice’s backyard, where he secured a TKO win
‘This is the same guy that’s getting all these crazy views, he’s knocking people out dead and he’s giving me a chance?’
One of Masvidal’s most iconic fights, from that period, was his brawl with Slice’s 200lb protege named ‘Ray’.
Masvidal was by far the smaller fighter but it proved irrelevant as he unleashed a flurry of brutal strikes on Ray and won the bout.
It led to the beginning of a fruitful fighting career for Masvidal, although it wasn’t without some hardship before that.
Just last year, head MMA coach for American Top Team Mike Brown shared an old picture of Masvidal that showed how he used to fight for food.
In the picture, Masvidal is holding a sign that says: ‘Hungry!! Will fight for food!! Backyards, UFC, KFC. Show me the $$$!!’
It’s almost surreal to look back on the picture, as Brown’s caption rightfully notes that Masvidal is ‘now one of the absolute biggest PPV draws in the sport’.
Masvidal’s old coach recently shared an image of the fighter with a sign displaying the words: ‘Hungry!! Will fight for food!!’
CLASHING WITH UFC STARS
After forging his name within the street fighting community, Masvidal then worked his way up the professional mixed martial arts ladder.
From Bellator to Strikeforce and then eventually, the UFC. It was a journey that would take him 10 years in total but one that took him to the pinnacle of MMA action.
However, despite his move into the mainstream, Masvidal has rarely strayed from the backyard fighter persona and has had multiple run-ins with other UFC stars.
The first instance came in the UFC Fight Night 147 event, in London, where he clashed with British fighter Leon Edwards.
It was a historic night for Masvidal as he headlined the card in a bout against England’s Darren Till, which he won, but the real fireworks came backstage.
As Masvidal – who had just scored an impressive KO over Till – was conducting a post-fight interview when he was heckled by a rowdy Edwards.
The American decided to cut his interview with ESPN short, as he strolled over to Edwards and quickly gave the Brit a ‘three piece with a soda’.
In other words, he started throwing heavy shots at the Birmingham fighter. Edwards fired back before security intervened and put a halt to the backstage chaos.
Despite the fight being broken up relatively swiftly, Edwards suffered a cut above his eye, yet decided not to press charges against his welterweight counterpart.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yW4FafSnhxA%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US
Though Masvidal was lucky enough to escape a criminal charge on that occasion, his luck ran out after his altercation with Colby Covington.
In March last year, Masvidal was charged with felony battery after allegedly attacking rival Covington outside a Miami Beach restaurant – less than three weeks after the pair’s UFC bout.
The two American fighters had shared the octagon at the start of that month and Covington emerged victorious via unanimous decision, which left a sour taste in the mouth of Masvidal.
Covington and Masvidal renewed acquaintances outside of Papi Steak, where Masvidal could be heard yelling, ‘Don’t talk about my kids,’ while being prevented from getting closer to Covington.
Covington eventually suffered a broken tooth after being ‘sucker punched’ twice by Masvidal, police told Fox Sports. He was also hit in the eye.
Masvidal is still awaiting the verdict on the situation, after his pre-trial hearing and trial were pushed back on three separate occasions, which he hasn’t let go of.
Speaking at a UFC 287 media day, Masvidal said: ‘I currently got three felonies, because this b**** Colby says I gave him a brain injury, so how the f*** is he gonna fight for any titles is what I want to know.
‘The UFC is gonna get sued if that guy goes in there and something like that happens, right? Because supposedly he says I gave him a brain injury. I didn’t do s***, though.’
Covington suffered a broken tooth after being ‘sucker punched’ twice by Masvidal, police told Fox Sports. He was also hit in the eye
And, after taking aim at Covington, Masvidal decided to get himself into another altercation with welterweight fighter Kevin Holland, in a Miami hotel this week.
The incident was caught on camera as Masvidal, who is scheduled to fight fifth-ranked welterweight Gilbert Burns at UFC 287, was held back by security.
Holland, who is facing Santiago Ponzinibbio, was also being restrained by staff before trading verbal blows with Masvidal at the press conference the next day.
When asked about the altercation, Masvidal said: ‘Absolutely nothing. There’s nothing to talk about there. Just some d*** riding, clout chasing b****. Ain’t nothing to talk about.’
Holland quickly fired back: ‘That’s not what you were saying yesterday. Watch your f***ing mouth.’
A clip circulated on social media of the two welterweights confronting one another in a hotel
HISTORIC WINS
For all that can be said about his escapades outside of the octagon, there can be no denying the legacy that he has created within the cage.
Known as a journeyman for a long-part of his career, Masvidal began rising to prominence within the UFC after his victory over Darren Till in 2019.
Masvidal had been on a one-and-a-half year hiatus from MMA after suffering a decision defeat to Stephen Thompson, before making his return.
Till, who recently left the organisation, had been on the ascension at the time and it led to Dana White scheduling a Fight Night event in London.
However, the fans inside the O2 Arena were left stunned as Masvidal produced a stunning knockout to walk away with the victory over Till.
The huge punch sent London crowd into silence, as the England fighter was handed the first KO defeat of his career. A devastating finish.
Masvidal stunned the crowd at the O2 Arena by beating Darren Till via KO in 2019
Just four months after that victory and Masvidal was back inside the octagon, this time fighting with American wrestler Ben Askren.
There were high expectations for Askren, who had just signed to the UFC after becoming the welterweight champion in the One Championship organisation.
However, those expectations came crashing down within five seconds of the fight after Masvidal produced a now-iconic flying knee to leave Askren on the floor.
It was enough to send the Las Vegas crowd into pandemonium, as they witnessed the fastest ever knockout in UFC history.
The win was so impressive that Masvidal soon became one of the poster boys for the fighting organsation and was handed an eight-fight contract with the UFC.
His next bout would see him take on veteran fighter Nate Diaz at the end of 2019. The bout would be for the newly-created ‘Baddest Motherf*****’ belt, or BMF.
The mouth-watering clash would see two of the UFC’s most well-renowned ‘brawlers’ face-off in a five-round war in Las Vegas, where Masvidal would triumph.
After beating Till, Masvidal recorded the UFC’s fastest ever knockout over Darren Till
After dominating the fight, Masvidal won the fight via TKO due to the doctor stoppage between rounds three and four when the cageside physician determined a cut over Diaz’s right eye rendered him unable to continue.
It was an emphatic performance from Masvidal, who made it three wins out of three bouts throughout 2019 by beating Diaz.
However, that would make the last victory inside the octagon for Masvidal, who has since gone on a three-fight losing streak.
He’s suffered back-to-back defeat to Kamaru Usman – being paid $500,000 dollars to step in at short notice for the first fight – before losing via decision to Covington
It’s thought Masvidal has earned approximately $3.4million in his career – a far cry from the $500,000 he used to compete for in backyards.
But you get the impression Masvidal would swap his money to be crowned champion again. He’ll take one step further towards that goal if he can get back to winning ways this weekend.
Masvidal stands with the BMF belt wrapped around his waist after beating Nate Diaz
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