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Ultimate Fighting Championship
Martial ArtsMixed Martial Arts

UFC 251: Jorge Masvidal says Dana White will ‘treat me accordingly moving forward’ after ‘lowballing’ him

  • ‘Gamebred’ says he will make ‘very close’ to what he wanted after taking Fight Island headliner on six days’ notice
  • Masvidal laments being ‘undercut’ by UFC president White and matchmakers in original negotiations for Kamaru Usman bout

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Why you can trust SCMP
Jorge Masvidal knocks Ben Askren out with a flying knee in a record-breaking five seconds at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas in 2019. Photo: USA Today
Andrew McNicol

Jorge Masvidal said he predicted the UFC would call him to arrange the short-notice replacement fight against Kamaru Usman at UFC 251 this weekend.

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Welterweight champion Usman’s (16-1) original opponent, Gilbert Burns, was taken off the Fight Island card headliner after testing positive for Covid-19. Masvidal, who had spent weeks in disagreement with the UFC over fighter pay, took the bout on six days’ notice.

“We had to break them down … but I’m gonna do my job and provide for me and my family. It’s not what I think I deserve, I see on paper what I bring in. We know what I deserve, so when they undercut and lowballed, [I said] let’s see what happens,” Masvidal (35-13) told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.

“I told several people close to me, ‘Watch at the last moment, they’ll probably call me back, some craziness is gonna happen’. And sure enough, bam it happened,” said the 33-year-old Masvidal, who said he got “very close” to the payday he wanted.

“So moving forward from this fight, they’re going to treat me accordingly or I just step in last minute, six days to go and get it then, I guess.”

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