Currently a top-class welterweight, Jorge Masvidal made a long journey to get to where he’s now. The way, of course, consisted of both falls and rises. Well, his fighting path without linking to his personal life.
Ponytail
Jorge’s been a street fighter since his youth. Despite his size, the Cuban was defeating tough guys one by one. One of them was a protege of Kimbo Slice named Ray. Jorge’s street name was the Ponytail back then due to his haircut. He also did a bit of grappling in high school but never made it further due to a lack of discipline. Masvidal has always been and stays one of the best strikers in the welterweight division, though, at the beginning of his career, Jorge had some problems with finishing his opponents for which he was blamed several times by his opponents.
Climb starts
His first professional fight in the MMA took place in 2003, in which Masvidal defeated Brandon Bledsoe withing 3:55 mins in the 1st round. His first loss took place four fights after this by unanimous decision to Raphael Assunção. Jorge was competing with uneven success in organizations all over the world. It was with AFC, BodogFIGHT, Strikeforce, Bellator, and others.
He came to the UFC in 2013 with a record of 23 wins and 7 losses. Even back then Jorge new, sooner or later he’d be a headliner. While McGregor managed to gain popularity and turn it to the hundreds of millions of profits, over the period from 2013 to 2017 Masvidal won 8 times and lost 6 times which is far from the perfect record. In two of his last fights “Gamebred” lost to Demian Maya and Steven Tompson, both by decisions.
Reborn
Lack of motivation and discipline has always been an issue for Jorge. It was the reason why it took him years to reach the fighting Olympus. His next fight will take place on March 16, 2019. What was Jorge doing through all that time? He was regaining his mental powers. One of the biggest leaps for him was the participation in a reality show in which he had to survive on a desert island for 3 months.
Jorge returned to the octagon a different person. In his first fight after being reborn, Jorge, despite the early knock-down from Darren Till, KO-ed him in the third minute of the 2nd round. Then Mavidal demolished the undefeated Ben Askren with a flying knee within 5 seconds which is the fastest KO in UFC history. Funny now to watch Askren’s prefight interview, in which he says Jorge will never finish him with one punch. Well, you never know, right? Then on November 2, 2019, Gamebred beat Nate Diaz by the TKO in the third round. By the end of 2019, Masvidal was already considered as a premium fighter who obviously deserves a title fight. That fight took place on July 12, 2020. Gilbert Burns tested positive for COVID-19, so Jorge had to replace him on short notice. Unfortunately, it was full domination by Usman. Masvidal was good at heavy strikes but grappling and clinch let Usman take all the rounds and defend his welterweight title. We won’t exaggerate if we say Masvidal is a brave guy to fight with Usman on 6 daysnotice, and hes not over with the championship bouts.
Conclusion
As you see, Jorge Masvidal as any other fighter had his ups and downs. We don`t know how to react to the fight announcement between him and Kolby Covington in December. No matter what, if it happens, a good old slaughter by Jorge will be granted. Especially if Gamebred has a full training camp.
Also, you can read Why Don’t the UFC Stars Want to Fight Chimaev?
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