UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal isn’t convinced by welterweight champ and #1 ranked poud for pound fighter Kamaru Usman. Masvidal, who has fought and lost to Usman twice, including a second-round knockout, believes that Usman’s striking is “nothing special”, telling the Impaulsive podcast that the champ is far from unbeatable.
“I know he is beatable, there is not a man alive that is unbeatable. Take the second round out of it, the first round I got up and started landing some big shots on him.
Masvidal: Usman is “Nothing Special on the Feet”
The first knee I threw he took me down off it, the second knee I hit him with, hit him in the chest and my thigh hit him on the jaw and wobbled him a little bit. On the feet he’s nothing special, man. He might have got me, but he’s nothing special on the feet, he’s not like a legit striker on the feet yet.”
In both fights, Kamaru Usman used his dominant high-pressure wrestling to neutralize any momentum Masvidal might have gained going forward on the feet. When Masvidal recently fought his former best friend and current arch nemesis Colby Covington, “Chaos” used a similar approach.
Masvidal’s knockout power is undeniable, but he has consistently failed to impose his will on elite wrestlers. He does, however, believe that he could dethrone the champ given enough time to improve his takedown defense.
“Keep training, man. It’s the same thing with him that is the Colby problem, it’s the same thing, wrestle. The first fight he put me up against the fence and I wasn’t able to f*****g let go.
The second fight I was thinking, it’s a takedown and I was doing well stuffing the takedowns, and boom he switched it up on me.
I definitely feel the problem, the consistent problem I have is my wrestling is not 100 percent there. It’s pretty damn good, it’s a lot better than when I first started.
S**t, I got another at least two, three years left in this sport, why not f*****g give everything I got in this wrestling s**t, see what comes out of it.”
Jorge Masvidal is currently riding a miserable three-fight losing streak, including his two losses to Usman and most recent decision loss to Colby Covington. Whether he can string together enough victories in the competitive welterweight division to lead another title charge remains to be seen.
Do you agree with Jorge Masvidal, or is he wrong about Kamaru Usman? Let us know in the comments.
