Jorge Masvidal Confesses He Hardballed Dana White Into $5 Million Payout for Short Notice Kamaru Usman Fight

UFC fighters may think that they will have enough to prepare for a title fight if they ever get one. However, that’s not always the case. Sometimes the opportunity presents itself on short notice, although taking short notice fights is risky business. But when Jorge Masvidal agreed to fight former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in less than a week’s time, Dana White had to pay the Miami native well. ‘Gamebred’ recently revealed earning a massive paycheck for his UFC 251 main event fight.

Jorge Masvidal would not compromise on the financial side of things for his first fight against Kamaru Usman. He wanted certain demands to be fulfilled, but he and the UFC could not agree. This led Dana White to take another route and pit Gilbert Burns against Usman. Unfortunately for ‘Durinho’, he was found positive for COVID-19, which appeared to be a boon for ‘Gamebred’.

Jorge Masvidal banked his highest payout after saving Dana White and co.

It was a lot harder to fill in for Gilbert Burns at UFC 251, especially because Jorge Masvidal had only six days. Moreover, he had to cut down a considerable amount of weight and even travel to Jacksonville. It was certainly not the most ideal situation for Masvidal to go in and fight for the 170-pound championship.

“Six days before the fight, the other route that they went with catches Corona [virus]. Now the UFC calls me and they need somebody who can fill in on six days’ notice, fly across the world, cut 20 pounds of water in these six days, and fight for the world title,” said Jorge Masvidal in an interview with ‘DJ Vlad’. However, he knew that he had it in him to make it to the fight in less than a week’s time. “There’s only one motherf***er in the whole world that could get that call for the bat signal, and that’s this dude here [indicating at himself].”

Masvidal did not want to do the fight without getting what he wanted, which seemed to be fair game. After the negotiations fell out the first time, ‘Gamebred’ came out as a happy man following the second negotiation. The UFC agreed to meet all his demands, and the fight was on, saving Dana White’s pay-per-view event.

“But I had to get paid, and I had to get paid very f***ing handsomely for doing this. So they gave in to all my demands that I had, you know. And as far as that goes, I made out like a bandit cos’ I got what I want,” the 39-year-old further stated. Surprisingly, it also turned out to be one of his biggest paydays ever, a $5 million payout, to be specific. “That’s one of the fights that I made the most money [$5 million]… because we ended up selling right under 1.3 million PPVs,” Masvidal added.

Despite the big financial benefit he got from the fight, a part of ‘Gamebred’ wasn’t satisfied.

Business was good, but the fighter in Masvidal was not satisfied

There have been only a few people who have made as much as Jorge Masvidal made from his UFC 251 fight. Hence, it was a great feeling to be able to get that payout and secure the lives of his family members. However, the 39-year-old also wanted to become a champion, and the fact that he lost to Kamaru Usman seemed to be a reason that bothered Masvidal to an extent.

“If I hadn’t struck that deal with the UFC, I wouldn’t have got nowhere near $5 million… and I would have just felt like I got taken advantage of… the business side [of me]… was very, very much satisfied… but the guy who wanted the world title, wasn’t [satisfied],” Masvidal added.

Although Jorge Masvidal could not beat Kamaru Usman despite fighting him twice, his career was nothing short of legendary. He will forever live in the fans’ memories for being the reason for some of the most memorable and eye-catching moments in UFC history. In fact, Masvidal was one of the first true stars in the entire sport of MMA. But he still has some more fights to offer, and who knows? Maybe he will make even more money since he is a promoter as well.