Daniel Cormier wouldn’t be surprised if Jorge Masvidal swooped in for a title shot with a win at UFC 287.
Masvidal meets Gilbert Burns in the UFC 287 co-headliner April 8 in Miami. Dana White declared Colby Covington the No. 1 contender for welterweight champion Leon Edwards, but “Gamebred” is confident he can leapfrog him with a win.
Masvidal (35-16 MMA, 12-9 UFC) is on a three-fight skid, but Cormier lauds him for how he’s marketed himself in the lead-up to his fight with Burns (21-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC).
“He pretty much called out everybody in the welterweight division,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “It’s a great opportunity for Masvidal, and you can see in his behavior, you can see in his approach, that Masvidal recognizes it. While he has been on a bit of a slump in fighting, he’s done a lot of things positively to help his career in terms of media, getting Gamebred Boxing going and everything else.
“Why’s he talking about all these guys? Because he’s a lightning rod, and he understands that.”
Cormier thinks if Masvidal can cut the perfect promo with a win, it would be enough to convince the UFC to give him the title shot. Edwards still is seeking revenge from Masvidal attacking him backstage in London in 2019, and is also welcoming the fight.
“If you’re in Miami, it’s going to be a pro-Masvidal crowd,” Cormier said. “He wins, gets in the middle of the octagon, and tells Joe Rogan, ‘I want Leon Edwards. Come get this biscuit, come get this two-piece.’ Dude, the world’s going to go crazy and Dana will look at that and go, ‘Hey, man – there’s a lot of history to that.’
“(If) this guy wins impressively, with his star power, I could see him right in the conversation for a fight against Leon Edwards.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
