Jorge Masvidal Retires at UFC 287
Jorge Masvidal is hanging up the gloves. After dropping a unanimous decision against Gilbert Burns at UFC 287 “Gamebred” retired in front of his hometown of Miami, Florida.
This decision did not come as a surprise. In the lead-up to this fight, Masvidal teased that he would retire if he was unable to get the job done against Burns. After a fairly one-sided loss, he made the decision official in his post-fight octagon interview.
“This is where I started my career,” Masvidal said in his octagon interview. “Now, it’s been a long 20 years, 50-something fights. You know, sometimes your favorite basketball player ain’t got that three-pointer anymore, your favorite quarterback losses have that rifle. I don’t feel the same when I get in here no more. It’s been 20 long years.”
Masvidal, 38, had a career worth remembering. After starting his career street fighting, he worked his way to the top of the sport. At the end of it all, he will retire with a 35-17 record and one of the most violent highlight reels in the business.
Masvidal was able to rise to superstardom after a historic three-fight run in 2019. This was headlined by his record-setting five-second knockout of Ben Askren and subsequent win over Nate Diaz that left him the ‘BMF’ champion.
Unfournetly, that would be the peak of his career. After that point, he began to regress and lost four consecutive fights. In fairness, those losses came against the aforementioned Burns, Kamaru Usman, and Colby Covington. That is the definition of only fighting the toughest guys on the roster.
Still, the decline was evident. Masvidal said it himself, he was far from his top form. With that in mind, Masvidal deserves credit for calling it a career at the right moment. It is way too frequent to see a beloved fighter remain in the sport longer than they should.
Despite retiring from MMA, Masvidal will remain heavily invested in the sport. Masvidal is working as a promoter with iKON Fighting Championship and Gamebred Promotions. iKon FC is a regional promotion based out of Miami, Florida while Gamebred Promotions hosts boxing and bare-knuckle MMA contests.
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