Jorge Masvidal knows his fight against Kamaru Usman is just a business, but that doesn’t negate the overwhelming hostility that the fighters shared before their UFC 251 clash.
From a clash at the Super Bowl Media Day earlier this year to words exchanged through social media and interviews, Masvidal and Usman will surely not lose love as they prepare for a Saturday night meeting in Abu Dhabi.
The last time Masvidal spoke to an opponent with so much contempt was almost exactly a year ago before competing at UFC 239 against Ben Askren. That night, Masvidal achieved a breathtaking five-second knee-to-fly knee – the fastest in UFC history – before blowing up the former Bellator champion with a few more blows when the referee stopped the fight.
Judging from his appearance two days before his first UFC title shot, Masvidal appears to have the same attitude as a holstered pistol just waiting to aim at Usman.
“As I said in the Askren fight, it’s never personal before and after it – it’s always business,” Masvidal MMA Fighting said during the UFC 251 day for virtual media. “It’s just people that I probably didn’t get along with well, but Usman actually crossed boundaries that no other competitor I’ve fought against spoke about.
“He talked about things he’s going to do with my asshole and I don’t understand why he’s talking about my asshole. He talks about my ethnicity, whether I am this or that. He tells people that I am God. You can’t find the video or a Twitter thing or nothing ever says I said I’m God. So this guy is just doing a lot of things that will result in him being violently injured. “
While Masvidal won’t intentionally violate the rules, he won’t refuse the option to add an exclamation mark to his performance if he has the opportunity.
“If the referee was going to stop me and I got a few extra punches, I wouldn’t mind,” he said. “You will be a little bit more than the super necessary strokes. It will be something special. I have to go fast forward and really send this guy on another plane. “
Even though Masvidal is only six days away from the fight, he is obviously extremely confident of what will happen when he finally shares a cage with Usman. Part of this is certainly due to the skills he has gathered in 48 professional matches, but he also quickly points out what he believes are deficiencies of the reigning UFC welterweight champion.
“[Usman is] nowhere near as good as announced, ”said Masvidal. “That’s why I’m here, I’ll prove it. I think he’s mentally weak and I can’t blame the guy either. He has 17 personalities. He should have had her diagnosed and maybe each of his personalities must be on Adderall or some substance so that he doesn’t have that many personalities.
“So it is only his mental weakness that will come out in abundance on Saturday. The world will see that I have fully exploited this individual and his weak asses. “
