With Loss at UFC 287, Jorge Masvidal Admits ‘This Could Be the Last One’

The stakes will be high for Jorge
Masvidal when he faces Gilbert
Burns in the UFC 287
co-main event.

With a win, “Gamebred” could be right back in the welterweight
title picture — especially given his history with current champion
Leon
Edwards. A loss, however, could send Masvidal down a completely
different path.

“This could be the last one,” Masvidal said on the UFC 287
“Countdown” show. “If I lose, I’m pretty much calling it quits. But
a win against Gilbert means that things are headed in the right
direction. So if I roll the dice and I do everything right, I’m
going for it all. For one title, or many titles.”

Masvidal will be making his first Octagon appearance since dropping
a unanimous decision to Colby
Covington at UFC 272 in March 2022. Since then, Masvidal’s most
significant activity was
attacking Covington outside a Miami restaurant shortly after
their bout. Masvidal has pleaded not guilty to single counts of
aggravated battery and criminal mischief and is awaiting trial in
May — though it remains possible that a settlement could be reached
before then.

As for his MMA career, the 51-bout veteran hasn’t won a fight since
November 2019, when he bested Nate Diaz at
UFC 244 to capture the “BMF” title. That was part of a star-making
campaign that included quick finishes of Ben Askren
and Darren Till.
Since then, Masvidal has twice fallen to Kamaru
Usman in 170-pound title bouts before the aforementioned
setback against Covington, who is currently tabbed as the
division’s No. 1 contender.

While his future remains uncertain, Masvidal is confident that he
is primed for a vintage performance against Burns at UFC 287 on
Saturday night.

“I think I’m at my best right now,” Masvidal said. “My mental, my
physical, now I’ve got to go out there and prove it. I’ve got my
back up against the wall but I get to start my resurrection here in
Miami, Dade County, the city that birthed me, that made me, that
molded me, so I’m more than excited. April 8, I give it all I got
and I win we keep rolling that dice until we get that f—-ing belt.
Let’s go.”