Jorge Masvidal is negotiating with the UFC about filling in the slot of Gilbert Burns to face Kamaru Usman in the UFC 251 main event.
Masvidal’s agents posted social media of what appears to be Masvidal negotiating with the UFC and taking a COVID-19 test. According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, negotiations for the fight are ongoing. It does appear that the news is being reported positively as if the fight should happen.
Helwani did explain that both fighters would still have to go through the testing protocol that all others on the UFC 251 have undertaken. That is both must fly to Las Vegas to get tested, fly to Abu Dhabi, get tested again for COVID-19, make weight and then get tested a third time for the fight to go forward.
If the fight goes forward, it would be an anticipated matchup between two fighters that genuinely dislike each other.
Payout Perspective:
All Masvidal needed was a global pandemic to gain some negotiating leverage. Masvidal has been mired in a dispute over money with the UFC which was the reason why Gilbert Burns received the spot at UFC 251 in the first place. Now that the UFC needs a main event, Masvidal has some room to negotiate. Of course, the UFC could paint Jorge as greedy if the fight does not materialize. At this late date, its not clear if Masvidal is fight ready but it should build more interest into a packed card this Saturday.
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