Jorge Masvidal claims to have received special permission from the Ultimate Fighting Championship to return to the promotion after a brief boxing stint.
Masvidal announced his retirement at UFC 287 in April 2023 after a decision loss against Gilbert Burns, which marked the Miami native's fourth defeat in a row. However, the former BMF champ soon declared that he would be returning to competition for a boxing match against Nate Diaz, who chose not to re-sign with the promotion after completing his contract in 2022. Masvidal and Diaz are scheduled to compete in a boxing match on June 1 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, under the Fanmio Boxing banner.
While the UFC hasn’t traditionally allowed signed fighters to compete in boxing — with the exception of Conor McGregor — Masvidal claims to have received a similar exemption. According to "Gamebred," Solomon Engel, Fanmio CEO, was able to move a few pieces to let the UFC loan him “Gamebred” for three fights.
“For sure [I’ll return to MMA],” Masvidal said on "The MMA Hour”. “I told the UFC that after these three fights, if they [allow it] – while we were working at the deal, I was like, ‘Man, you’ll let me go and do these three fights, I’ll come back and bust somebody’s chops off for you.’ And they were like, ‘OK, we like that.’”
Masvidal was closely watching the BMF title fight between Max Holloway and Justin Gaethje that went down at UFC 300 on Saturday. The 39-year-old had even called out Gaethje in case the former World Series of Fighting champ won, which was immediately shut down by “The Highlight.”
While Gaethje went on to suffer a brutal beatdown en route to a last-second knockout loss, Masvidal is still eyeing “The Highlight” for a return fight.
"I don’t want to talk too much s—t about him cause he just got f—ing flatlined, so I'm hoping our paths cross in the UFC because this would be a very good comeback fight for me, easy fight for me,” Masvidal said. “I mean, he’s literally just walking forward eating shots, no head movement, no nothing. So, its definitely a guy I’d love to f—ing stick my fist through. Nothing personal. He seems like he’s a little personal that I make picks and stuff, but I’d love to bust f—ing Gaethje’s face up.
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