Jorge Masvidal weighs up UFC return following recent retirement: ‘I’ll never say I’ll never come back’
Just weeks removed from his retirement from mixed martial arts competition, former two-time welterweight title challenger, Jorge Masvidal is already contemplating a return to the UFC.
Masvidal, a former two-time welterweight title challenger under the banner of the UFC, co-headlined UFC 287 on home soil in Miami, Florida earlier this month, dropping his fourth consecutive defeat in a one-sided unanimous decision loss against Brazilian contender, Gilbert Burns.
Without a victory since a symbolic BMF championship win over Nate Diaz back in November 2019, Masvidal had dropped successive losses to Kamaru Usman, and former training partner, Colby Covington.
Jorge Masvidal contemplating potential UFC return
Announcing his decision to hang up his gloves with immediate effect off the back of his unanimous decision loss to Burns at UFC 287 in ‘The Sunshine State’, Masvidal appears receptive of a potential retirement-snapping return to the Octagon already.
“I love this sport so much, I love it so much,” Jorge Masvidal told ESPN MMA during a recent interview. “I cried for many days after I retired. Not because I’m so hurt, just because I love this sport. Since 11, 12 years old, this is all I did – it’s so much love and passion in my heart, so i’ll never say that I’ll never come back, you know, because I love this sport so much.”
“Here’s the honest truth,” Jorge Masvidal explained. “I’m still fast, I’m still explosive. I have a good endurance, I know so much more about the sport than when I started, but there’s just a couple things as you get older, they slow down. I’ve been feeling from like 34 to like 37, that in my department, and solely in that department, my reflexes and reaction time took a big dip.”
Admitting he has slowed down in his recent Octagon walks since enjoying a winning run over Diaz, Ben Askren, and Darren Till back in 2019, Masvidal echoed that he would consider a comeback in the future.
“It’s not where it used to be even when I was 35 – when you ask me about coming back to fighting, my heard, body, mind, soul, all of it wants to do it, but do I now want to be like a stepping stone because I don’t have that word,” Jorge Masvidal said. “I see the punches and I react right away and I know exactly what you’re gonna do and where you’re gonna be next, so it’s slightly slowed up in the smallest of ways.” (Transcribed by Mirror)
