Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Mark Donlon

Conor McGregor vs Jorge Masvidal fight fancied to take place at catchweight

The UFC have been tipped to find a catchweight to help facilitate a showdown clash between Conor McGregor and Jorge Masvidal.

Prior to suffering a leg break during his trilogy with Dustin Poirier, McGregor had been fighting at 155lbs.

McGregor has previously fought at 170lbs, however - the weight division in which Masvidal was defeated by Colby Covington at UFC 272.

And retired UFC star Kenny Florian has called on the UFC to compromise and find a middle ground so that two of the biggest names in the sport can battle it out.

Speaking on the Anik and Florian podcast, he said: "That would be an awesome fight. I think that'd be really interesting.

"Again, these are two of the biggest names in the sport right now.

"I mean, who's bringing in more pay-per-view buys than these guys right now? Not many. So I think that would be a fascinating fight. Perhaps they make it at catchweight.

"If there's two fighters that would be deserving of the catchweight, it would be those guys. Why not?"

Kenny Florian has suggested that the UFC make a McGregor vs Masvidal fight at catchweight (Steven Ryan/Getty Images)

The UFC rarely permits catchweight bouts, with the exception normally being if a new fighter has to be drafted in to replace an injured competitor on a card.

But after three defeats on the spin for Masvidal, that elusive catchweight opportunity may be one that appeals.

His recent defeat against Covington was preceded by two losses against welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, and he may be out of the title conversation now.

Masvidal's manager Malki Kawa has previously claimed McGregor and his team have shown a lack of interest in a potential bout.

He said: “Every time he’s ever tweeted, or anybody’s ever tweeted that name at us or Jorge, I do the following: I call [UFC executive] Hunter [Campbell], I say, ‘Hey Hunter, what’s good? You saw Conor?’”

"[Hunter says], ‘Yeah, he doesn’t want that fight.’ OK, boom. Every single time. It never fails.

"I don’t know if that’s real, or not real, but I know that they said they’ve tried to make that fight a couple times – Conor will not take it.

"You’ve heard [UFC President] Dana [White], Jorge’s too big for him, and that’s the end of that story. So listen, if they wanted to make that fight, our end accepts no matter what. We’re all in."

However, McGregor publicly ridiculed Masvidal in the past after the latter pulled out of a fight against Leon Edwards last year.

He said: "It's also Jorge Masvidal's birthday but he [sic] a b**** for bottling the fight against Leon.

"F*** your 'injury' You sign to fight, you fight. Strip that [BMF] belt from him that he never even won."

Should the idea of a catchweight bout gain momentum, one imagines there would be plenty of motivation on both sides to make the fight happen.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.