Daniel Cormier believes Jorge Masvidal could return to journeyman status with loss to Gilbert Burns: “It’s do or die”

UFC commentator Daniel Cormier believes Jorge Masvidal’s return is do or die.

‘Gamebred’ has been out of action since his clash with Colby Covington last March. In that outing, ‘Chaos’ dominated en route to a lopsided unanimous decision victory. Weeks following the bout, Masvidal reportedly assaulted Covington in a Miami restaurant.

For months following the bout, the former title challenger went back and forth with Gilbert Burns. While they were in talks to fight last month in Brazil, the matchup didn’t come to fruition. Instead, Neil Magny stepped in against ‘Durinho’ and wound up losing by first-round submission.

Late last week, Jorge Masvidal agreed to face the Brazilian at UFC 287 later this year. The former title challenger has stated that he’s intending to get a finish, and that’s the sort of talk that Daniel Cormier likes to hear. The UFC commentator discussed Masvidal’s return in a recent edition of DC & RC.

There, Cormier stated that Masvidal’s return is the ultimate crossroads fight. If he’s unable to defeat Burns, there’s a legitimate chance he returns to “journeyman” status.

Image Credit: UFC

“I can’t imagine that he accepted this fight based on Burns beating Neil Magny the way that he did. So, for me, I wonder what made him accept this fight now… The timing to me, why fight him now?” Cormier said on the DC & RC podcast. “You go back and you look at who he was prior [to 2019] this dude was a journeyman. When he got to the elite of the elite, he got put back into a category where he just hasn’t proven or shown that he can compete with the elite. Not many people will say that in this sport, but I’ll say it.”

He continued,“…Masvidal’s fighting Gilbert Burns in a situation where he’s number 11, a five-to-one underdog. If he wins, he exceeds expectations. If he doesn’t, it’s something that was supposed to happen…It’s must-win. There is no doubt about it… You win or you go back to the place prior. You go back to that place where you’re fighting guys like Al Iaquinta and guys like Michael Chiesa… Not the Colby Covingtons, the Kamaru Usmans, and the Gilbert Burns’ of the world… He’s gotta get it done… It’s do or die.”

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