Jorge Masvidal has blamed negotiations falling apart with Kamaru Usman on the UFC welterweight champion’s “absurd” financial demands.
“Gamebred” is moving back towards a rematch with Nate Diaz, whom he beat by TKO on a doctor stoppage after the third round of their UFC 244 main event in Madison Square Garden last November.
UFC president Dana White had been lining up Masvidal as Usman’s next challenger for July, but the “BMF” champion is happy to run it back with Diaz and then challenge “The Nigerian Nightmare” later this year.
“Kamaru has asked for an insane amount of money,” Masvidal told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. “He had one of the worst pay-per-view cards of 2019. I had the best – just by numbers. This is not an opinion. I had the most sold pay-per-views of 2019. So he thinks he’s hit the jackpot and he’s asking crazy money from the UFC. The UFC has told him, ‘No,’ on several occasions.”
Usman beat Colby Covington by fifth-round TKO at UFC 245 in December, in a fight that was first targeted for UFC 244 – only for the two fighters’ demands to see the promotion move on to Diaz vs Masvidal.
“To tell you the truth and be honest with you, I don’t think Nate has a problem with going at all,” Masvidal added. “I think Nate is ready to go and he’s willing to go.
“Usman is asking for – you know people in the UFC. Go find out how much money he’s asking for. He’s asking for an absurd amount of money – an absurd amount of money.
“The UFC has said, ‘[expletive] that. Who are you, man?’ How could you ask for this amount of money guaranteed when you’re not a draw? You’re not a draw. You’re not a household name. Nobody knows you. Even the hardcores in this sport don’t care for you. He doesn’t have a commanding force like, ‘Hey, I could bring 300,000 pay-per-views, blah, blah, blah.’ No, he doesn’t do that.”
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