UFC star Jorge Masvidal on his plans to fight a boxer and his ‘fight IQ’

Jorge Masvidal is a UFC champion with a brutal past but ahead of his visit to Australia next month he told GRANTLEE KIEZA he’s looking to emulate the mega-millions that Conor McGregor made against Floyd Mayweather.

The fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather was one of the richest sporting events of all time, pitting a UFC fighter against a boxer. Is fighting a boxer something you would like to do?

Oh definitely, just so long as the pay cheque is there. My fee is the thing. I would need to be compensated handsomely to do it, to go to that level but I’m definitely up for it. Definitely.

McGregor says he wants to fight you. You’ve said it won’t happen because you don’t want to be charged with murder, but what’s your real opinion of him?

He’s good, man. He’s done a lot of great things in the sport and he has a lot of knockout power. When he’s focused he’s very dangerous. A hell of a competitor.

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UFC star Jorge Masvidal has big plans. Picture: Getty Images

In November you stopped Nate Diaz after three rounds in New York. You had a fan ringside, the American President Donald Trump. Not many UFC fighters can say they scored a big win in front of the President of the United States.

That was awesome, man. Whether you like the guy or not it was a great honour to fight before the President of our country. It was pretty flattering. He’s a UFC fan and the man he came to see was me.

I covered a fight in America once (Jeff Harding v Dennis Andries in 1989) and Donald Trump was actually the promoter.

Yes, he was very heavily into boxing at one time.

After the Diaz fight you were joined in the ring by the great boxer Roberto Duran, who won many world titles in a huge career. Is Duran a friend?

I would love to say that Roberto Duran was my friend but that was actually the first time I met him. I have been a fan all my life, though. It just so happened that he was able to come see one of my fights and it was a great experience to fight and win in front of him. For a fact Duran is my favourite fighter of all time. The most exciting fighter ever to watch.

The ringside doctor called a halt to the Diaz fight because he had a cut over his eye. There was a lot of controversy about him wanting to keep fighting.

I had a conversation with him straight after the fight in the ring to say “I’ll give you a rematch man’’. I didn’t want the fight stopped because of a cut. I don’t believe in that. I wanted the fight to go on. It was the doctor’s choice but I wanted to fight. I’m a competitor not a cheater and I didn’t want to leave any doubts over the result. I was straight up and said I’ll do it again and I’m happy to fight him in a return bout if I have to.

Jorge Masvidal about to received the belt from actor Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson after his win over Nate Diaz in November. Picture: Getty Images

After the fight he said some controversial things about the result and then said he was retiring.

Yeah he said some things that weren’t called for. I think he was just trying to make the rematch happen but I was like “buddy I’m going to give you the rematch no matter what, you don’t have to say stupid things’’. He was saying I was thinking about quitting in the fight. I’ve never quit in my life. I’ve never tapped. I don’t know what that’s like. Fifty-something fights. I was so ahead in the fight anyway so what is this guy saying? Is he out of his mind or is he just trying to sell another fight? There’s no quit in me.

There was absolutely no controversy when you beat Ben Askren in Las Vegas. You leapt across the ring and knocked him out in just five seconds, the fastest KO in UFC history. Was your fight plan to knee him in the head from the outset?

Well, definitely it was in the arsenal kit. It was one of my tools and part of my training. When I got in the ring and saw his body language and his posture I knew that it was over. I thought he was a little over-aggressive and over committing and I took full advantage of that.

So you saw the opening and went for it immediately before he could do anything?

You’ve got to, my brother, you’ve got to. It’s the only way to do it, man. It’s kill or be killed in there.

Jorge Masvidal knocks out Ben Askren. Picture: AFP

How did you approach the fight with Diaz. Was it a different fight plan to Askren?

The way I approached Diaz was that I just wanted to mess him up. I just wanted to hurt somebody, you know. I wanted to get to Nate and hurt him every round. That’s my game plan for everybody. Beat the crap out of ‘em and kick their ass. Get them on their back as much as possible.

Last March you knocked out Darren Till in London in the second round after he had you on the canvas. That was a big, exciting win in enemy territory?

He’s a young lion so I wanted to capitalize on that. It was one of my tougher fights. In that first round he had my ears burning and my brain working overtime. But I have a very good fight IQ. I was able to set traps for him and make him go into them.

Your fight IQ has been developed over a long time. You were a high school wrestler, then a kickboxer and in various mixed martial arts tournaments before the UFC. All those styles must have been layers in your development?

Oh yeah. It doesn’t happen overnight. I was born to fight but a lot of my skills is residual repetition, years and years of training in different styles.

Masvidal is a big fan of Australia’s Mark Hunt. Picture: Getty Images

You’re coming to Australia for a series of appearances next month?

Hell yeah man and I’m really looking forward to coming to Brisbane. I came to visit Australia a couple of years ago and I really enjoyed it so I’m looking forward to seeing a lot more of it and enjoying the great food you have out there.

We have some great UFC fighters from Australia.

Yeah man I’m a great fan of Mark Hunt. A huge fan. I’ve known him a long time from his days in K-1 (kickboxing). I know Robert Whittaker personally and I’ve seen him fight a bunch of times. I love his style. I love what he brings to the table. He’s just a great fighter.

Your father Jorge Snr sailed to America on a raft to escape Cuba and then spent many of your early years in jail for manslaughter and drug offences. What is your relationship like now?

Growing up my mother told me he was in the army and not in jail and that was why he was missing from home. When I found out the truth I visited him all the time in prison. He’s my right hand man now, my bestie.