It’s a good thing Jorge Masvidal has his bout with Gilbert Burns lined up, because the former Strikeforce standout and UFC welterweight title contender has been making most of his reputation lately for his fights outside the Octagon. Masivdal is currently involved in an ongoing legal battle with former friend, teammate, and opponent Colby Covington over allegations that the 38-year-old assaulted Covington outside a Miami restaurant in March of last year.
However, in a recent interview on the MMA Hour, ‘Gamebred’ also revealed that he’s got another (although seemingly less dramatic) court case ongoing. That case is the result of an apparent split between Masvidal and First Round Management. Owned and operated by Malki & Ibrahim Kawa, Masvidal has been a long-time client of FRM.
Reports that the two parties had severed their business relationship first surfaced back in December of last year, although they were still apparently on good terms at the time. That seems to be much less the case now.
“100 percent split with them,” Masvidal said (transcript via MMA Junkie). “You know, my momma always said, ‘Babe, if you have nothing good to say, don’t say nothing at all.’ So right now we’re going through some turmoil, litigation, that it’s not fair. I’m not going to talk about this or that right now, just we’re still going through it. At the end of this chapter, when all these things get done, I’ll have an exact report on that. We’re going through court and I don’t want to talk about anything right now, anything more than what I just said.
“We’re not in the greatest of terms, I’ll tell you that. I have no ill will towards them. I don’t owe them any money. They don’t owe me any money, but there’s other things that have affected the relationship severely. That they could fix, that they could’ve fixed by now, but they haven’t, so I’m just waiting for these things to get resolved.”
At one point, Masvidal was even apparently in a long-term relationship with Iman Kawa, sister to the FRM owners—a point Colby Covington jumped on in their now-infamous feud. Notable for their antagonistic style of media relations, Masvidal sounds excited to be working on his own terms now.
“They have their own way of doing stuff and it doesn’t appeal to a lot of people. There was a lot of people that I wasn’t talking because they have beef with them. I’m talking to everybody right now. Every week someone is trying to pitch me to go to lunch or some f*cking movie script this, sponsorship there. Ok, one day closed, but 2,000 windows opened. I’m managing myself.”
Masvidal is set to take on Burns in the co-main event of UFC 287, taking place on April 8th at a yet-to-be-announced location. The PPV event is scheduled to be headlined by a middleweight title fight rematch, with former champion Israel Adesanya looking to gain back his title against longtime foe Alex Pereira. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news and updates.
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