Like every MMA follower, Joe Rogan fell in love with Jorge Masvidal’s demonic form in 2019. The ‘Gamebred’ we see today is almost a different person from the beast that hunted the likes of Nate Diaz, Ben Askren, and Darren Till. In an old episode of the JRE MMA show, Rogan told the tale of how that very beast was unleashed upon the UFC. Rogan shared the horrible experience Masvidal went through on a remote island in South America to rediscover his potential. However, as of late, it seems like the welterweight contender has let loose again. After his back-to-back defeats against Kamaru Usman and later to Covington, Masvidal might’ve lost some of that tropical island spark.
The tropical experience that unleashed Jorge Masvidal
In episode #82 of the JRE MMA show with former middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, the veteran UFC commentator spoke about Masvidal’s powerful comeback in 2019. Even Adesanya vouched for Masvidal’s ability as a fighter and claimed to be a fan of his.
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Because the 38-year-old went on a terror run and beat his rival, Diaz, to a pulp to claim the BMF belt. On that night, every UFC fan considered Masvidal one of the greats. However, Joe Rogan credited this massive improvement to a South-American reality show, known as ‘Exathlon’, that he took part in 2018.
Rogan shared “What happened was, he was on this reality show… and Dan Lambert said it was terrible terrible experience…” where Jorge Masvidal was “by himself all day, no phone, he had to go into the village to get food.”
He described “it was a disaster and he didn’t like it at all.”
Therefore, ‘Gamebred’ really got time to look at his MMA career from a unique perspective that he hadn’t gotten a chance to see before.
Joe Rogan loved the much-improved Masvidal machine
Joe Rogan believed that ‘Gamebred’ came back stronger than ever. Because, on that remote island, Masvidal grew eager and tried to demonstrate his natural skill. And it became a turning point for his MMA career in 2019.
Rogan explained “and all of a sudden he merks Donald Cerrone, he merks Darren Till, merks Ben Askren. Beats the f*ck outta Nate Diaz.”
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“He’s a different person now and now he’s what he could have been. He is potential realized… He’s at a 100%.”
However, Masvidal couldn’t recreate the magic after those three victories. But, fans can only hope to see the 2019 version of Gamebred again.
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Do you still believe in Masvidal’s abilities?