Jorge Masvidal Demands UFC Release Through Twitter, Dana White Responds
There is another unhappy fighter among the stable of UFC fighters and that person is Jorge Masvidal.
Masvidal, apparently unhappy with the money being offered to fight UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman, went on a Twitter rant demanding to be released by the UFC:
If I’m not worth it let me go @espn
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) June 5, 2020
Why make me fight for half of what I made on my last fight cause the other dude can’t draw?
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) June 5, 2020
Don’t tell me about a pandemic when reports today show highest stock market has ever been. Everybody getting back to work and you buying an island. Stop playing us and the fans #theawakening
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) June 5, 2020
This isn’t the first time Masvidal allegedly held up the UFC during title fight promotions, as the fighter said he wanted more than what the UFC was offering for a short notice bout against Usman at UFC 249 that would never materialize.
UFC President Dana White would respond to what Masvidal tweeted, stating that the promotion isn’t begging anybody to fight.
“Anybody that doesn’t want to fight doesn’t have to fight, including Masvidal and Jon Jones and all these other guys,” White said to MMA Junkie. “It doesn’t have to be because of the pandemic. These guys are independent contractors. This isn’t like the NFL where I can make you: ‘You come to practice and you do this or you’re going to get fined or you’re going to get this.’ These guys can do whatever they want. They can say whatever they want. We’re not begging people to fight. We’re offering fights because in our contract, I have to give you three fights a year. You have the ability to turn them down and not take them.”
If Masvidal isn’t able to face Usman for the welterweight gold, another contender in the number one ranked Gilbert Burns has stated that he’ll face the champion next month at UFC 251.
