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UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman and his next opponent Jorge Masvidal don't like each other and it's no secret. They were both at the Radio Row in Florida in the Superbowl weekend and got into a verbal altercation - with both men forcibly held back by others around.
When talking to Submission Radio (H/T credits MMA Junkie), Masvidal claimed that Usman was "super-forced" into taking the fight against him and that he didn't want to:
“He’s super-forced into this fight,” Masvidal said. “Dana said it, and what is he going to do now? So, I don’t think too much of him. So, I don’t want to talk about the guy too much.”
It's a slightly outlandish claim since Usman has stated on many occasions that he would welcome all comers after beating Colby Covington. He never showed any hesitation to face Masvidal nor did he call out any specific opponent.
Moreover, if Usman didn't want the fight, he could simply have waited for UFC London in March to see if Leon Edwards could beat Tyron Woodley and cement his place as the next challenger.
Either way, Masvidal thinks that Usman would rather fight people ranked below Masvidal or have fantasy matchups in other organizations:
“You would think any champion would want to fight the ‘Fighter of the Year’ in their weight class to extra prove something, to set themselves aside,” Masvidal continued. “This guy wants to fight a guy under me that he already beat, or if not, do fantasy matchups, the guys in Japan or other organizations.
He continued by saying that Usman "knows the formula" and would rather fight a 100 other people apart from him. He also denied that there will be another altercation between them and that Usman will only confront him if they're surrounded by security.
The two men are expected to face off at International Fight Week this July. Dana White confirmed the plans for the fight and it's likely to be the headliner for UFC 252.
