Jorge Masvidal har ryktats vara aktuell för ett möte mot Conor McGregor om denne skulle segra mot Donald ’Cowboy’ Cerrone vid UFC 246 den kommande helgen.
Efter 15 månaders frånvaro kommer irländaren gå upp till 170 lbs vilket han motiverat med att han vill förbereda sin kropp inför fler matcher i weltervikt detta år, möjligtvis mot Masvidal. McGregor kommer dock vara den mindre fightern mot 10 cm längre Cerrone.
Masvidal må kanske hoppas att McGregor vinner så att han själv kan tjäna stora pengar på ett möte mot världsstjärnan. Masvidal mötte dock Cerrone för tre år sedan och vet att det inte kommer bli en lätt uppgift för den frispråkige irländaren.
Masvidal beskrev mötet som följande i Submission Radio:
Conor’s amazing off the blocks. I think he’s got great timing. While guys are getting their timing, Conor’s already coming in with the timing. He already has their timing by the time you go to your timing. Good power, (and) good confidence in it. I would rank Conor one of the better starters of the sport. Donald, on the other hand, is more of a rhythm fighter. He takes a little bit to work at it. He puts his feints together, his movements, starts gauging speeds, see how fast, how strong they’re throwing.
So, he works on that, and he’s like a rhythm fighter. So, with time he does a little bit better, and I think he’s got a little bit better endurance than Conor as well. So, if Cowboy comes out and he’s like a dual threat, it becomes more of a problem, (and) then I start to lean more to Cowboy. If he just comes out flatfooted and he’s in front of Conor, I heavily go towards Conor, man.
Masvidal tror att den ortodoxe kickboxaren Cerrones stil kommer passa McGregor som handen i handsken:
It’s just tailor-made for Conor. Flatfooted, right-handed fighter is just custom made for a southpaw with a decent left hand. So, it can be interesting, because even in that mayhem Cowboy can land the knee; he could land the kick. He’s the bigger guy.
But I think it really depends on Cowboy, what kind of strategy he comes out with.
Trots att många kritiserat McGregor för att välja Cerrone istället för dennes besegrare Justin Gaethje, som setts som en svårare motståndare, så underskattar inte Masvidal ’Cowboy’ som innehar flera imponerande rekord, bl.a. flest segrar och avslut i oktagonen:
He’s back to fight a top contender. He’s not picking no slouch, he’s fighting a stud in Cowboy. It’s an older Cowboy that’s been through a lot of wars, yes, but it’s still Cowboy. Not only is he a draw, but he’s a very competitive individual. I think he’s like number five or six in the world right now. So, he’s definitely no slouch.
Were there tougher fights? Of course, there was probably tougher fights. But it’s a great fight. I’ll be tuning in and I’ll be watching.
Vet inte om han och McGregor möts
Masvidal vet att en irländsk seger skulle kunna bädda för en av årets största matcher mellan honom och McGregor. ”BMF”-mästaren ser dock supermatchen som mer osannolik än sannolik efter att ha sett intervjuer med McGregor:
I don’t know if Conor wins it means that he fights me. I really don’t know that. I don’t think so. From watching interviews, hearing things, I don’t think so, man. I think buddy goes a different path, man.
Maybe I’m just looking into the future. But I don’t think so. I think I’m gonna end up making owl soup [against Kamaru Usman] at some point this year.
Ni kan se hela intervjun med Masvidal nedan:
