Jorge Masvidal all-in on Leon Edwards comeback fight, pleads for Jon Jones to face Tom Aspinall
Jorge Masvidal speaks during the Nate Diaz v Jorge Masvidal press event 'The Baddest Tour" at The Novo on April 19, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. ()
(Kaelin Mendez via Getty Images)
Jorge Masvidal has more to give the combat sports world.
When UFC announced its return to Miami for the huge UFC 314 card on April 12, Masvidal felt like a homecoming was a solid possibility to end his short-lived MMA retirement, which began in April 2023 after his Miami headliner at UFC 287. Masvidal, 40, revealed Monday on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show" that his hope for a UFC 314 return ultimately fell apart, however the inaugural BMF champion still plans to fight in the UFC again — and now has his old rival, Leon Edwards, firmly in his sights.
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"I don't have a date in mind," Masvidal said. "I'm just shooting for Leon's ass. Let's go fix this, go f***ing fight. Throw down like men, beat your ass and that's it. I ain't getting any younger."
Masvidal and Edwards' beef infamously began after their respective wins over Darren Till and Gunnar Nelson in the main and co-main event bouts of UFC London in 2019. During a post-fight interview with Laura Sanko backstage, Masvidal was mid-answer when Edwards walked by. The two briefly exchanged words from a distance before Masvidal strolled toward Edwards and hit him with a quick sequence of unexpected punches — or the famous "three piece with the soda" combination, as Masvidal coined it.
Despite plenty of discussions afterward, a matchup between the two welterweight rivals never came to fruition. Masvidal rose to superstardom with his capture of the BMF title followed by two failed shots against then-champ Kamaru Usman. Edwards eventually earned his own title shot and dethroned Usman years later. Masvidal has kept an eye on the division though, including Edwards, who just fell into his first-ever losing streak after back-to-back setbacks to the now-champion Belal Muhammad and Sean Brady. The latter result came at the most recent UFC London event, with Brady securing a submission finish.
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"He surprised a lot of people," Masvidal said of Brady's win. "The guy's tough like a dog on a bone. He gets into tough positions and keeps stepping on the gas. I think Leon felt that pressure and just kind of broke, like, 'Man, I'm in a bad spot here, I need to get out of this without wasting a ton of energy.' It felt like in some of the exchanges he was just flabbergasted. He couldn't deal with that pressure and kind of gave up.
"I always thought he was more of an athlete than anything, you know? He's a great athlete, he's a phenomenal athlete. He's not like a 'bite down on the mouthpiece' type of fighter. If the fight doesn't go his way, he goes more and more towards the wall.
"Whatever, man. Nobody's perfect. I just know I'll bust his ass up, bro," Masvidal concluded.
Although he's still under UFC contract and ready to return, Masvidal has no official plan laid out for his comeback fight. He just knows it'll be in 2025 and won't be a random, nonsensical matchup.
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Masvidal isn't necessarily interested in anyone outside of Edwards for his return fight, but "Rocky" has now fallen into a similar category as his biggest rival, Colby Covington.
"You know Leon's on-sight. I see him right there, I'll do it in the parking lot," Masvidal said. "For Leon, there's no timeframe, baby. Whatever you want to do.
"B****-ass Colby, that's another one too. Whenever I see that guy. I saw the highlights [of his recent fight against Joaquin Buckley]. I didn't see the entire thing, I liked it — Buck's a good guy. I wasn't surprised. [Covington is] doing a lot of drugs, from what I hear, man, so it's catching up. God-given ability is the only thing he got — just throwing it away. Not really [surprising]."
It's been tough sledding in competition for Masvidal since his rise to UFC stardom. He lost his final four UFC fights before his retirement and then suffered a majority decision defeat in a boxing rematch with Nate Diaz in July 2024.
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"Gamebred" said his first boxing experience since 2005 wasn't ideal, though he hasn't shut the door on another boxing match down the line and was even approached by KSI and Misfits Boxing earlier this year.
"Boxing's a tricky, tricky sport," Masvidal said. "I love boxing itself, but the politics in boxing — a lot of things in boxing that are tough. I love MMA, man. That's my most fun thing. Not that I wouldn't do other boxing matches. I would if the right one came around.
"[I] never [got] a formal deal [from Misfits Boxing]. KSI's got like a million people, they reached out with a deal that I f***ing laughed at all the way to the bank. If that was their offer, I'm like, 'Well, we're never going to work.' You gotta pay for this dance party. If you don't want to pay, I don't give a f***.
"If KSI wanted his ass whooped, send a real deal over," he continued. "What they offered was like if I was two years in the UFC and I got cut or something like that. It was crazy. I won't even entertain those dorks, man. These influencers. I could do that when I'm like 50. Right now, if I get a fight with Leon, a real fighter, I would do it. By real, I mean he's an actual fighter by trade, not this f***ing influencer boxing."
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As much as he misses competing, Masvidal is still a big fan above all else, and like the rest of the MMA community, he hopes the big heavyweight fight between UFC champions Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall comes to fruition.
Jorge Masvidal is just as invested in Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall happening as the rest of us. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
(Chris Unger via Getty Images)
"That's a fight I want to see bad, bro," Masvidal said. "I want to see this fight. Jones is doing what he has to — play it out, get as much money as he can. Maybe it's going to happen, maybe it's not going to happen, but I want to see it. I don't want it to be like the [Francis] Ngannou fight. I want Dana White and company — you say Jones is the greatest pound-for-pound fighter ever in every interview you get, the glazing has never been seen before like that with Dana White. Pay the man whatever the heck he wants. Make this happen. What're we waiting for? ... Everybody wants to see it. Dana White said Jon Jones is the greatest ever, also Aspinall is cleaning house right now. One of the best guys right now. Let's make this fight happen.
"When Jon Jones was going to fight [Mauricio] 'Shogun' [Rua], 'Shogun' could have been like, 'I'm not going to fight Jon Jones. Young killer. If I beat this guy, no big deal. If I lose, oh my gosh, it's all over.' And 'Shogun' gave Jones that fight. So I also want to see Jones give Tom that chance. 'If you want to get your ass whooped, let's go. I'll show you that I'm still better,' and blah, blah, blah. Or if not, there will be a changing of guard because Tom Aspinall has the freaking ability. Sergei [Pavlovich] was training a long time at ATT, and he was good on the feet, man — good chin, fast, explosive, good reflexes. And Tom did away with him like boom, boom. Like he owed him money, brother. Tom's got that ferocious right hand, great footwork and he's a big natural heavyweight.
"I think he's going to cause Jon some problems if he can't take this guy down," Masvidal continued. "It's not going to be easy. Can you bet against Jon Jones? I don't know. If you're smart, hell nah. With that fight, I probably lean with Jon, but this is a fight I want to see, man. At all costs, we gotta do this one. If there's somebody that will beat Jon, it's Tom. The guy's got it."
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