Jorge Masvidal retired from the UFC as one of the most recognizable stars in the entire sport early last year. But unlike most other ex-UFC fighters, who are happy to ride out into the sunset and take it easy after hanging up their gloves, Masvidal has put on the promoter’s hat and founded the first-ever bare-knuckle MMA promotion of any note.

And his ‘Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA’ is gearing up to put on its eighth event on November 15 in Mississippi, for which the former UFC BMF champion is especially hyped. Speaking to EssentiallySports in an exclusive interview with Andrew Whitelaw, ‘Gamebred’ broke down a couple of fights that he feels will be some of the best in terms of quality in the entire MMA world.

“Right now there’s only one thing on my mind- November 15th, the most brutal show on earth, tickets available at Ticketmaster.com, twelve UFC veterans, eleven fights. It’s nothing but action. And then after that, I’ll also think about who I’ll fight. But right now I kinda like to do one thing at a time. And right now it’s just the promotion hard as you can, get these guys as much exposure as we can,” Masvidal said, on being asked who he wants to fight in his UFC comeback.

One fight that excited the Cuban-American was the main card heavyweight clash between Guto Inocente and Marcos Brigagao who were accomplished martial artists before embarking on their MMA journey.

“We’re talking about Kevin, he’s a good guy. Another good guy we have is Guto [Inocente], a killer from Brazil. This guy is a problem. [He is a] five-time Brazilian national champion, two-time world champion. This dude is a problem, man. He’s f***ing big, he’s athletic and my favorite part is that he’s f***ing mean. He’s trying to hurt people, he’s trying to take them out, he’s trying to break the fucking leg with his kicking and he’s kicking through it. And he’s fighting no slouch,” Masvidal declared.

After profusely praising Inocente, the former UFC superstar then waxed poetic about Inocente’s fellow Brazilian opponent, Brigagao, and felt their clash would be one for the ages. “He’s fighting another Muay Thai two-time Brazilian national champion in MMA. This fight’s gonna be amazing, they both have a good amount of MMA fights. It’s gonna be one of those fights people are gonna remember for a while. I can’t wait. And I think both these guys, but especially mainly the winner of this is going to make splashes in the MMA community, guaranteed,” he added.

And the stakes for Inocente vs. Brigago are quite high as ‘Gamebred’ promised that the winner of their fight will get one step closer to fighting Gamebred BMMA heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos for his title: “And you know after winning that we’re also having contention to fight JDS [Junior dos Santos] for the heavyweight title.” But that is not the only fight that has caught Masvidal’s fancy.

Masvidal tips his hat to Gamebred BMMA 8 matchmaking ahead of the November 15 event

Another fight Masvidal was waiting for with bated breath was another heavyweight clash, this one between Americans Chase Sherman and Maurice Green. The former BMF champ felt that Sherman with his red hot form would be a fighter to watch out for, endorsing ‘The Vanilla Gorilla’ and his exciting fighting style in very strong terms.

” So we’re very interested in how this fight goes, [and] how does Chase Sherman vs. Maurice Green fight goes. You know Chase is on a two-fight win streak with two knockouts, just everything you can hope for that the promoter will want. The guy just shows up and does his f***ing job, no matter how hard he’s gonna in there and throw the heat whether he’s getting it or giving it,” Masvidal said in his exclusive ES interview.

‘Gamebred’ gave all the credit to the matchmakers for putting on such electric matchups, and felt that they had made sure Gamebred BMMA 8 would be an exciting, action-packed affair that would please a lot of fans. So big shoutout to matchmaking on this f***ing card because it’s insane, it’s f***ing epic,” Masvidal added. What are your thoughts on Masvidal’s upcoming Gamebred BMMA card?