Ahead of his June 1st boxing fight against Nate Diaz, Jorge Masvidal has revealed how much money he made from his biggest-ever UFC fight.
Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz fought in the inaugural UFC ‘BMF’ title fight, when ‘Gambred’ won the belt after the doctor stopped the fight at the end of round three after Masvidal busted open Diaz’s eye.
It was announced earlier this year that the two will now rematch in the boxing ring following them both having left the UFC.
The 10-round fight takes place on June 1st in Inglewood, California, at the Kia Forum.
The UFC run that turned Masvidal into a star
Prior to his ‘BMF’ title fight in 2019, the 39-year-old had already transformed himself into one of the UFC’s biggest stars.
‘Gamebred’ went on a survival reality show in the Dominican Republic in 2018, spending months away from his family and friends in the wilderness. Masvidal credits that time away with him seeing a career resurgence in the following years.
The rapid rise began in March 2019 when he headlined UFC London against Darren Till, who at the time was coming in off the back of his welterweight title fight loss to Tyron Woodley. Masvidal shocked the UK fans by knocking Darren Till out cold in round two.
His next fight after that came against Ben Askren, in which he scored the flying knee knockout which is still played on repeat by the promotion, to this day.
After going on to dominate Diaz, the Floridian was then afforded a welterweight title fight against Kamaru Usman, which he admits stands as one of his biggest paydays throughout his storied career.
Jorge Masvidal reveals he earned $5m for his UFC 251 fight against Usman
During the Coronavirus pandemic, the UFC opened up ‘Fight Island’ on Yas Island, allowing for events to continue taking place, with UFC 251 being the first one scheduled.
Masvidal admitted that the original plan was for him to take on ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ at UFC 251, but because the UFC wasn’t willing to negotiate Masvidal’s deal, talks stalled.
The UFC then decided to give the welterweight title shot to Gilbert Burns but six days before the scheduled event, Burns withdrew. The promotion decided to recall upon the services of ‘Gamebred’ on just six days’ notice and allowed him to negotiate the deal.
“I had to get paid, and I had to get paid very handsomely for doing it.” Masvidal told djvlad in an interview. “They gave into all of my demands that I had, and as far as that goes, I made out like a bandit because I got what I wanted.” he added.
Because of the sheer magnitude of the event during the time, the UFC 251 PPV reportedly did just under 1.3m PPV buys, making it one of only two fights in the top 10 that don’t involve Conor McGregor.
Masvidal admitted that he made over $5m for that fight, “that’s one of the fights that I made the most money period.
“I contemplate whether it was worth it or not because I was signing up to fight for titles and maybe if I had those seven weeks to prepare I would’ve done a lot better and would’ve walked away with that belt.” Masvidal explained.
The 39-year-old went on to lose the fight via decision, coming away unscathed. He was then granted another title shot two years later, getting brutally knocked out. Despite contemplating whether it was worth taking the first fight with Usman on short notice, Masvidal admitted the business side of him was satisfied with it.
“If I hadn’t struck that deal with the UFC I wouldn’t have gotten nowhere near $5m, I would’ve sold the same amount (of PPVs) and got nowhere near $5m. I would’ve just felt like I got taken advantage of.
“The business side of me was very much satisfied and happy, but the guy who always wanted that world title belt wasn’t.” Masvidal finished.