“This could be the last one,” were the ominous words uttered by UFC middleweight and welterweight star Jorge Masvidal, when discussing his upcoming fight with fellow contender Gilbert Burns.
Masvidal (35-16, 16 KOs) will battle Burns at UFC 287, broadcast LIVE from the Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida this Saturday, April 8. Their battle will be part of a stacked card that also includes Alex Pereira defending the middleweight title against Israel Adensaya.
Masvidal discussed the fight during the ‘Countdown’ preview of UFC 287.
He said, “This could be the last one. If I lose, I’m pretty much calling it quits but a win against Gilbert means that things are headed in the right direction, so if I roll the dice and do everything right, I’m going for it all.”
Jorge Masvidal, 38, is getting long in the tooth in terms of being a professional fighter. So while he may be contemplating retirement, he also knows that a convincing victory on Saturday night against Burns could vault him back into title contention.
And if he’s going to have one last shot at victory, that means he needs to win this weekend to line up for a bout with welterweight champion Leon Edwards (21-3).
“In the Gilbert (Burns) fight, I don’t have a standout wrestler conditioning freak like that where he can just continue to go for takedown after takedown. He doesn’t have that, he’s never shown that,” Masvidal told TMZ this week. “And on the standup, yeah, he throws hard, but he doesn’t understand the sweet science.”
“He doesn’t understand setups. He doesn’t understand distance, timing, fakes… things like that. From a technical standpoint, I think this is a great match for me,” Masvidal boasted. “I just have to show up, put my hard hat on, put my mouthpiece on, and get to work and just put the holes in this guy’s face.”
Aside from the Masvidal-Burns and Pereira-Adesanya fights, UFC 287 will also feature bantamweights Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez and welterweights Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio.
It will be the promotion’s first major event since parent company Endeavor announced its purchase of World Wrestling Entertainment and its intention to merge it with the UFC and then take the company public.
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