Jorge Masvidal updates on long-discussed fight with Stephen Thompson

Several weeks ago, top UFC welterweights Jorge Masvidal and Stephen Thompson agreed to fight – once Thompson was all healed up from his recent surgery.

On the latest edition of BJ Penn Radio, Jorge Masvidal updated on the status of this exciting scrap.

“No updates on that fight yet, that I know of,” he said. “I know they were kind of waiting to see what would happen with Gunnar Nelson and stuff in Scotland, but he got blown out of the water from what I heard. But I know they were trying to set up a Thompson and Gunnar fight. That’s not going to happen, so I think it’s only reasonable that the two top strikers fight, you know? I’m [ranked] number four [at welterweight], he’s number two – why not? Everybody wants to see that fight.”

“All I’m waiting for is a signed document and I’m ready to go.”

While Masvidal is ready to go, Thompson is likely to need a little more time to recover from his surgery. While Masvidal is happy to wait for a fight of this magnitude, he also admitted that a prolonged stretch on the bench is not ideal for him.

“When me and [Thompson] first talked, first he said September, then he said October,” Masvidal explained. “I know he’s hurt. He had surgery, it’s not like he’s bullshitting or anything. But at the same time, it’s not like I’m going to end this year with two fights only. I’ve never done that since I’ve been in the UFC. Actually, I wanted to get four to five fights this year. When I had that Cowboy [Cerrone] fight in January, I was like ‘this is perfect, the first month of the year, I’ve already got a fight, it’s going to be easy to wrack up the fights this year.’ But it hasn’t happened the way I wanted it. But if I have to wait till October, November to fight Thompson, I mean it’s almost worth it because he’s number two, you know? But at the same time, I’ve got to fight. I’ve got to compete. Not because I’m broke or anything, just because I like to compete. It’s what I do.”

Finally, Masvidal gave his breakdown for a potential matchup with Thompson.

“He’s tricky, he’s awkward,” he said. “He does a lot of things that come from his karate. If I was a karate guy, those things wouldn’t be weird or tricky to me, but I’m not a karate guy. I’m just a regular stand-up dude, you know. He does a lot of tricky things, different angles, but the longevity of the fight, as the fight keeps going on and I keep getting in his face, I’ll bust him up, I’ll break him down. I’ll be able to bust up his defense. My efficiency, my aggression, the way I’ll be able to cut the distance on him and make him work from angles he doesn’t like to fight [from], it’s going to be a bad night for him.”

“I’m gonna connect. It’ll take some time to feel him out, not fall into his traps, and just get to work… put the hardhat on and go to work on him.”

How do you think a fight between Jorge Masvidal and Stephen Thompson would go?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/20/2017.