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Following his loss to Colby Covington at UFC 272 this past weekend, the future of Jorge Masvidal is very much up in the air.
One potential future opponent for 'Gamebred' could be Irish superstar Conor McGregor. So, should the UFC make this fight, possibly at a catchweight?
On one hand, the two men don’t have an existing feud. On the other, a clash between them might make perfect sense right now, with even YouTube star Jake Paul suggesting so.
With that in mind, here are five reasons why the UFC should make a fight between Conor McGregor and Jorge Masvidal next.
#5. Conor McGregor vs. Jorge Masvidal could produce real fireworks in the octagon
In many ways, Jake Paul’s rationale for making a fight between Conor McGregor and Jorge Masvidal makes a lot of sense. ‘The Problem Child’ stated on his Twitter feed that because “both can throw and both have weak chins,” the fight would definitely end in a knockout.
The idea that McGregor and Masvidal both have weak chins, of course, is hugely questionable. McGregor has only ever been knocked out once, by Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 in 2021, while the last time Masvidal was put down was by a once-in-a-lifetime haymaker from Kamaru Usman.
Prior to that, ‘Gamebred’ had not been knocked out since a freakish TKO at the hands of Rodrigo Damm way back in 2008. If anything, it could be argued that Masvidal has one of the better chins in the UFC.
However, the idea that ‘The Notorious’ and Masvidal would throw down until one man was knocked out definitely rings true. The likelihood of either man shooting for a takedown feels very remote. Instead, the fight would almost certainly take place on the feet.
With Masvidal’s excellent boxing skills, though, and McGregor’s heavy hands and tremendous movement and footwork, this wouldn’t be a sloppy brawl. Instead, it could turn out to be a striking chess match with both men shining at points.
Either way, the fight would almost certainly produce fireworks in the octagon, meaning it’d be well worth the UFC booking it.
#4. The trash talk prior to a fight between Conor McGregor and Jorge Masvidal would be amazing
Not only would a clash between Conor McGregor and Jorge Masvidal produce fireworks inside the octagon, but it’s likely that the trash talk between them prior to the fight would be just as explosive, too.
Both McGregor and Masvidal are masters of riling up their opponents on the microphone. Both men have produced some of the most memorable quips in UFC history, from McGregor’s brutal cutdowns of fighters like Donald Cerrone and Jeremy Stephens to Masvidal’s famous “two piece and a soda” insult towards Leon Edwards.
Late 2021 gave UFC fans a glimpse of what might come during a feud between the two, as McGregor decided to slam Masvidal on Twitter. He took shots at the fact that Masvidal withdrew from a fight with Edwards, as well as poking fun at his fashion sense.
In turn, ‘Gamebred’ hit out at ‘The Notorious’, suggesting he was “off his meds” and telling him to “go back to fighting old dudes in bars.”
Of course, one Twitter exchange pales in comparison to the kind of barbs that the Irishman and the Cuban-American would likely throw at one another should they be matched up.
In fact, the trash talk would probably be just as entertaining as the fight itself, meaning the UFC ought to book it purely because of that!
#3. It’s a winnable fight for both men
Given that both Jorge Masvidal and Conor McGregor are not only two of the UFC’s biggest stars, but two of the promotion’s biggest drawing cards too, it makes sense for Dana White and company to ensure that neither man loses their luster too much.
Right now, though, both men are on the cusp of both appearing to be past their prime and, thanks to their trash-talking abilities, of slipping into the realm of self-parody, too.
McGregor has suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in his MMA career, as he was stopped twice by Dustin Poirier in 2021. In fact, ‘The Notorious’ has only won one fight since 2016, his January 2020 TKO of Donald Cerrone.
‘Gamebred’, meanwhile, is on a three-fight losing streak, with his two losses to Kamaru Usman being followed by his defeat at the hands of Colby Covington this weekend. The last time he won was his November 2019 stoppage of Nate Diaz.
With this considered, then, it wouldn’t make sense for the UFC to give either man a stylistically difficult bout. For instance, matching McGregor with Islam Makhachev or Masvidal with Khamzat Chimaev.
While matching Masvidal against McGregor would mean that one man would have to lose, the fact is that it’s a winnable fight for both fighters, meaning that at least one of them would regain some of their prior aura.
So, rather than risk both superstars suffering another loss next time out, it might be best for the UFC to sacrifice one in order to rebuild the other.
#2. It would allow the UFC to avoid giving an underserved title shot to Conor McGregor
Outside of a potential fight with Jorge Masvidal, another fight that has been mooted for Conor McGregor is a UFC lightweight title bout against the winner of the upcoming Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje match.
Put simply, however, the idea of giving ‘The Notorious’ a title fight right now is absurd. The Irishman hasn’t won a fight since January 2020. While he did impress against Donald Cerrone, that win was sandwiched between a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov and two losses to Dustin Poirier.
Sure, McGregor in a title fight would likely draw more money on pay-per-view than any other fight that the UFC could put together right now. However, if they were to go with it, any semblance of the promotion being about the best fighting the best would go out of the window.
However, from the UFC’s perspective, it’s almost understandable. After all, McGregor needs to be used in big fights and there aren’t all that many around for him right now.
A clash with ‘Gamebred’, though, would definitely count as one of those big fights. After all, while his drawing power isn’t on the same level as McGregor’s, he has been involved in huge shows. His first fight with Kamaru Usman in 2020 drew over a million buys on pay-per-view.
Therefore, by matching McGregor with Masvidal, the UFC could avoid all the controversy that would come with handing him an undeserved title shot, saving their own reputation in the process.
#1. Conor McGregor vs. Jorge Masvidal would draw hugely on pay-per-view
Perhaps the biggest reason for the UFC to match Conor McGregor against Jorge Masvidal is the fact that the fight would probably draw a humongous number on pay-per-view, making the promotion millions of dollars in the process.
When it comes to drawing power, no fighter in the history of the UFC and MMA can match McGregor. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that millions of fans are willing to part with their money in order to watch him compete.
Incredibly, according to Tapology, eight of the UFC’s ten biggest-drawing pay-per-views were headlined by ‘The Notorious’, with his 2018 bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov drawing an insane 2.4 million buys.
What is interesting is that one of the UFC's ten best-selling pay-per-views in UFC history was actually headlined by Masvidal. UFC 251, which saw ‘Gamebred’ unsuccessfully challenge Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title, reportedly drew 1.3 million buys.
While their rematch didn’t quite match those numbers, then, it’s clear that Masvidal does have plenty of drawing power in his own right.
When you consider that McGregor drew over a million buys alongside Donald Cerrone, who had never gotten close to those kinds of numbers before, it’s easy to imagine a fight between the Irishman and Masvidal getting close to the kind of numbers produced by ‘The Notorious’ and Nate Diaz.
Essentially, a bout between McGregor and ‘Gamebred’ would be an excuse to print money, meaning the UFC should go for it while they’ve got the chance.
