Getty Image / Jeff Bottari
Heading into UFC 287, it has been quite some time since fight fans have seen Jorge Masvidal win a fight.
He has lost 3 in a row over the last 4 years, but it looks like a win tonight could change things for him in a big way.
Last night, UFC president Dana White spoke with TMZ Sports and revealed that Masvidal could be just one win away from a big fight.
According to White, he could get be in line for a title with a win over Gilbert Burns.
Jorge Masvidal vs. Leon Edwards is the fight fans badly want, and while they're almost certainly not gonna get it next, Dana White says it's closer than you might think. https://t.co/WcEjOSFj2b
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) April 8, 2023
There was once a time when fight fans would have been thrilled to hear this fight announced. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that time is long gone.
It has been more than four years since “3-piece” incident. In that time, these two fighters have seen their careers go in very different directions.
A couple of fights after that infamous MMA moment, Masvidal earned himself a title shot against Kamaru Usman. He lost that fight by a clear decision, but for some reason was rewarded with another title shot.
Usman knocked him out the second time.
Then he took on his former training partner, Colby Covington, and lost another clear decision. Now he is a sizable underdog against Gilbert Burns tonight.
Meanwhile, Leon Edwards has also recently had a couple of fights against Kamaru Usman. He won both and currently holds the UFC’s welterweight belt.
Giving Masvidal a crack at the belt for winning one fight after losing his last 3 would honestly be pretty ridiculous regardless of the history he has with the champion, especially when Belal Muhammad has won 8 straight and also has unfinished business with the champ.
There are surely still some fans out there who really want this fight, but Leon Edwards should probably have to lose first for it to happen.