9 months ago
88
JORGE MASVIDAL binged on a month’s worth of takeaways before being convinced to end his retirement.
Masvidal emotionally hung up his gloves last April in his home of Miami following defeat to Gilbert Burns.
GettyThe next day – with his 20-year and 52-fight MMA career over – the American superstar was left feeling so empty he decided to fill up on fast food.
Ahead of Gamebred bare-knuckle MMA, Masvidal told SunSport: “It wasn’t the best feeling when I woke up the next day.
“It was like, ‘Damn I’m not retired, am I really retired? Guess I’m retired, Uber Eats!’
“Then I started ordering food and just eating to like fill this f***ing empty space and I did that for a while for like 20 or 30 days of waking up and feeling the same.
“It just wasn’t right, it definitely didn’t feel right being retired.”
Masvidal, 37, was soon back to training and as luck would have it he was approached to make a switch to boxing.
He said: “As that was happening a lot of other things were happening and this great deal fell on my lap to come back and be able to come back and box.
“I got to straighten out a lot of things in my life at that time on a personal level as that was the only way I was going to be able to go forward on a professional level.
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“I got those things done and here I am, pushing forward.”
Masivdal is still under contract with the UFC but looks to have their blessing to make a move into boxing.
And despite making amends with YouTuber-turned 8-1 boxer Jake Paul, 27, it will not stand in the way of a mega-fight between them.
Masvidal said: “Being friends with him or not, I mean that has nothing to do with us fighting.
“I’ve got respect for him for all the things he’s doing in his life in terms of turning his life around, these personal conversations, that’s how I’ve grown respect for him.
“How he told me how his life was going and how boxing switched it and changed it because of the discipline that sport demands and how he grew up in the media world and the Disney world, it was very different.
“I respect that and it’s very commendable but it has nothing to do with us fighting. If the UFC allowed me to, I don’t have all these permissions yet to be calling out people.
“But I’d fight anybody, I don’t have friends in this sport. I didn’t get into this sport to make friends, I got in this sport to provide for myself, my family and be number one.”
Masvidal is looking to face a fellow crossover star as he prepares to swap the cage for the ring.
He said: “I would like to fight a couple of MMA guys, some YouTube influencers and get my feet wet in the traditional boxing way.
“The same way that boxers do, they go get a gold medal and they come out and they fight ten guys that could never hurt them in the sport.
“And that’s the same thing I want to do, I want to push myself as much as possible but within my MMA-boxing experience.
“I’m not going to go and fight a world champion off the rip, is what I’m saying.”
@gamebredfighter
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