While the identity of the next challenger for Kamaru Usman’s UFC welterweight title hasn’t been officially announced, there is a good chance that Jorge Masvidal placed himself in pole position last weekend with his record-breaking finish of Ben Askren at UFC 239 — and he expects to find out sooner than later.
Masvidal has now scored arguably the two most impressive knockouts of 2019 within just a few months of each other, as he followed up his March starching of Darren Till in London with the five-second two-second knockout of Askren in Las Vegas. ‘Gamebred’ is a clear contender at 170-pounds and could well be joined by his friend Colby Covington, provided his ATT teammate gets past Robbie Lawler in early August.
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Whatever is next for Masvidal, he expects it to be big and for it be announced soon.
“I feel great right now,” he said to BJPenn Radio as noted by MMA News. “We were just over at the UFC Performance Institute, having a little meeting, a sit-down with the uppers. We want to get a plan formulated and get your boy back in there to fight. The biggest fight possible that I can get my hands on. Not taking any steps back, just forward.
“I like to compete so that’s something you’ll definitely be seeing me do, man. I’m trying to get that on paper so I can be competing very soon. We’re waiting for contracts.”
While Usman is the obvious candidate for Masvidal to want to face next, he also implied that there are other options available to him but remained tight-lipped as to what they might be.
“Could be, very well could be,” he said when asked about Usman. “Could be something else very big as well. I won’t get into too much detail because I can’t, but it’ll be something sweet. Mans will be happy, they’ll definitely be tuning in.”
Prior to his fights with Askren and Till, Masvidal had reportedly been close to agreeing terms to be Nick Diaz’s first opponent in more than four years, before those plans fell apart. Time for another go?
