Daniel Cormier isn’t sure if people will still be as interested in Jorge Masvidal if he returns to the UFC.
Masvidal retired from MMA in April 2023 after losing his fourth fight in a row against Gilbert Burns at UFC 287. He was then granted permission while under contract with the UFC to box Nate Diaz in July. He lost the bout by majority decision.
Masvidal (35-17 MMA, 12-10 UFC) said he’s definitely returning to the octagon, and even thinks a title run isn’t out of the question if he’s able to just take out one top contender.
“Nate looked pretty good that night, and I thought he won that fight, but then Masvidal starts to talk about fighting mixed martial arts again,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “Look, I’m going to tell you this one thing: Jorge Masvidal should be commended for doing what he did to reach the levels of stardom that he did. Because when you look at his career as a whole, you really do see a guy that spent the vast majority of his prime, the vast majority of his youth as a middling fighter.
“It is what it is. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s what it was. … Remember, when he started his UFC career, nobody cared. But then he has that great year where he beats Darren Till, then he beats Ben Askren, then he beats Nate Diaz to become the BMF champion in 2019, Madison Square Garden, (The) Rock puts the belt on. His star never shines so bright.”
But at 39, with five consecutive combat sports losses, Cormier questions if Masvidal still has the pull that once landed him in the top 10 highest-selling pay-per-views in UFC history when he lost a title fight to Kamaru Usman at UFC 251.
“Look at the names on his resume,” Cormier said. “At the end of the day, when you look at the career as a whole, it boils down to one year where Jorge Masvidal made you guys care, and it made him a star. But my question to you now is, do you still care? Because that’s what he’s banking on, right? He’s 39 years old. He has lost his last four MMA fights. He lost a boxing match.
“He said he will come back, starch somebody, and the UFC would be begging him to fight for a championship. My question to you is, do you care now? Do you care like you did in 2019? Do you care like you did when he was on that amazing run where he made himself from a guy that was middling, from a guy that was a bit of a journeyman, into a main event attraction? Him and Kamaru Usman sold a boatload of pay-per-views. But do you care today, in 2024, to see Jorge Masvidal come back and fight someone?”
