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UFC 251: Jorge Masvidal ‘hurting’ after cutting 20 pounds in six days – ‘it was rough’
- ‘Gamebred’ admits weight cut after flying to Abu Dhabi on short notice to fight Kamaru Usman was brutal but says ‘soon it’ll be party time’
- ‘A lot of young guys just don’t know their value. It’s not their fault,’ says Masvidal, who admits he ‘learned a lot’ from recent negotiations
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Why you can trust SCMP
Jorge Masvidal may have made it look easy. But his UFC 251 weight cut was no joke.
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“Twenty pounds in six days,” Masvidal told reporters after Friday’s official weigh-ins in Abu Dhabi. “That’s all I’m gonna say. It was rough. But I did it. I get s*** done.”
“Gamebred” (35-13) slid in on short notice to save Sunday’s Fight Island main event against Kamaru Usman (16-1), after Gilbert Burns tested positive for coronavirus.
He left Las Vegas for the UAE on Monday after passing preflight Covid-19 tests – even stopping for a pizza on the way in Rome, Italy – before beginning his cut. The 35-year-old shared a picture this on social media this week of himself covered in towels on the floor of a sauna.
But Masvidal insisted he didn’t have any doubts about taking the fight, after reopening negotiations with the UFC last weekend.
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“The opponent in front of me is very tameable, so I never thought like that,” Masvidal said. “I’m hurting though, initially during the weight cut, but now it’s all behind me. I made the weight, I’ve already got liquids in me, food in me, so pretty soon it’ll be just party time.”
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