Arguably the biggest star in the UFC right now has laid out the timeline for him to return to the octagon. Last night, the BMF Jorge Masvidal (35-14) took on cornhole pro, Cody Henderson, on ESPN.
Following the cornhole grudge match, Masvidal was asked about his UFC return by ESPN. Masvidal replied, “Hopefully, December or November… My opponent has a broken nose.. due to me…he’s going to be out for a couple days… I think next week we’re going to find out just how long he’s out for and then we’ll start determining who will be the next fight and where”
Who will the UFC have face the BMF?
Masvidal is clearly talking about welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, in that interview. Masvidal lost a decision to Usman back at UFC 251. Gamebred took the fight on one week’s notice.
Masvidal looked fantastic in the first round, but it became apparent that he didn’t have the gas tank to deal with Usman’s style. Usman was able to implement his game plan and win the fight.
The fight did massively well selling 1.3 million PPV buys. The UFC could no longer deny the fact that Masvidal had become a huge star. However, Dana White has said multiple times that Gilbert Burns will be next for the champion.
With that, who will Masvidal fight? Colby Covington and Tyron Woodley are scheduled to fight at some point in the next couple of months which takes them off the table.
The only opponent that would make sense from a rankings perspective is either Leon Edwards or Stephen Thompson. Masvidal has said that he’d love to get the Wonderboy fight back after losing a decision in their first fight.
Of course, Edwards and Masvidal do have history. They got into a backstage scuffle after the UFC‘s BMF knocked out Darren Till in London. I would think the UFC would lean towards Edwards for Masvidal’s next fight.
Either way, it looks like we have a general timeline for the return of Gamebred. What do you think? Who do you think Masvidal should fight upon his return to the octagon?