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Jorge Masvidal has responded to the ‘coffin’ comment made by Kamaru Usman after UFC 258. Masvidal took a jibe at Usman’s performance in their UFC 251 fight, mocking him for his ‘hug and toe stomp’ game plan.
UFC BMF champion Jorge Masvidal and UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman are no strangers to one another inside the octagon. Masvidal famously stepped in on six-days’ notice to replace Gilbert Burns in a UFC welterweight title fight at UFC 251 in July 2020. Burns had contacted COVID-19, due to which UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman was left without an opponent for UFC 251.
Jorge Masvidal stepped in on six-days’ notice and faced Kamaru Usman for the latter’s UFC welterweight title in the main event of UFC 251. Masvidal ended up losing to Usman via unanimous decision but received widespread praise for accepting such a high-risk fight on just six-days’ notice.
Additionally, one of the interesting takeaways from the UFC 251 matchup between Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman was Usman’s game plan. The Nigerian Nightmare utilized his grappling skills, his excellent wrestling skills in particular, instead of striking for long stretches of time with a crafty striker like Jorge Masvidal, en route to a unanimous decision win.
Certain sections of the MMA community criticized Kamaru Usman for stalling, turning the fight into a grappling-heavy affair, and using toe stomps without doing any significant damage. Usman’s detractors claim that he ought to have engaged Masvidal in a striking battle, rather than stall against the fence, which would’ve made for a more entertaining fight.
That said, Kamaru Usman’s very next fight – his UFC welterweight title defense against Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 – turned out to be one of the most thrilling fights of his career. Usman was almost finished in round one courtesy of Gilbert Burns’ punches, but he survived and then stopped Burns via TKO in round three.
At the UFC 258 post-fight press conference, Kamaru Usman called out Jorge Masvidal, promising to put Gamebred in a coffin when they clash in their rematch. Usman stated –
“He (Jorge Masvidal) had a built-in excuse. That’s the only reason he took that (UFC 251) fight. We tried to make that fight twice before. He said no…He’s been saying no. The only reason he took that fight on Fight Island is because there was a built-in excuse. He was training the whole time, but he said, ‘oh, I only had six days’ notice so that’s why that went that way’. Well, guess what? I’ll give you a whole training camp. And this time, I will stop him. I promise you.”
“I’m going to put him in a coffin this time. He don’t want that fight. I guarantee he don’t want that fight. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t want it. Have I lied up here yet? Have I lied to you guys yet about anything? Nothing. I said what I wanted to do, and that’s what I’m going to do. We’ll see if it materializes.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
Jorge Masvidal has now taken to his official Twitter account to respond to Kamaru Usman’s coffin comment. Masvidal posted a video of Usman’s ‘hug and toe stomp’ game plan from their UFC 251 matchup and stated –
“Game plan to putting me in a “coffin” hug and toe stomp who is this guy fooling? He nose #theresurrection”
Furthermore, Jorge Masvidal added a 'nose' emoji to his tweet, taking a jibe at Usman's claims that he'd suffered a shattered nose two weeks before facing Masvidal at UFC 251.
Dana White is open to the idea of booking Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal 2
Addressing amyriad questions at the UFC 258 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White suggested that he’s willing to book the rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal. Addressing Usman’s future, White stated –
“There’s a lot of options for him right now. If that’s the fight he wants, and that’s the fight Masvidal wants, and I’m sure the people would like to see it too…I don’t know.”
