ESPN viewer Marc Raimondi offers a look at Masvidala’s story of how he got to and from the fight with Nigerian Kamar Usman.
–
On July 4, Masvidals attended a barbecue event in Miami with his longtime manager, Malki Kawki. Initially, Gilbert Bērns had a duel in the weight category up to 77.1 kilograms with the champion of this division Usman. Burns fell ill with Covid-19.
–
Visiting his manager, Masvidals asked what his chances were for the UFC 251 wrestling show.
–
The manager replied to the American, “There is no choice.”
–
However, the following story is about perseverance, personalities and a slice of pizza on the way to the goal.
–
Kavi and the UFC’s deputy chief executive and the organization’s business manager spoke on the evening of July 3, but could not reach an agreement. The problem was the same as before – money. Usman was originally intended to meet Masvidal in the octagon, not Burns.
–
FOTO: AP / Scanpix
–
The wrestler with Cuban roots wanted a higher percentage of revenue than the UFC was willing to offer, Kavi revealed. When the talks broke down, Masvidals made a post on social media stating that the UFC was paying too little.
–
It seemed that the best fighter of 2019 would not fight for the belt this year. This could be understood from the announcement by UFC President Dan White about the duel between Usman and Burns.
–
After it was announced that the Brazilian Child had a positive Covid-19 test, it seemed that the fight would be canceled. The Nigerian went to Dallas to visit his parents and stopped on a diet because he was convinced that he would not have to fight for the UFC 251 show.
–
After the barbecue event, Masvidala’s manager decided to try his luck again and called the UFC.
–
After 10 calls, the two sides managed to reach an agreement and Usman had an opponent again. Masvidals himself said in a phone conversation that all fans want to see how he “falls”.
–
Interestingly, no one in Masvidala’s house could find a paper on which to write the promised proceeds of the fight, everything was written on toilet paper.
–
“It was one of the craziest things I’ve ever done,” the American manager told ESPN about the contract. “I told Horhem, ‘Once you get this belt, I’ll frame it with napkins on the wall in the office.’
–
Of course, there were still obstacles. The wrestler had to fly from Miami to Las Vegas to take the Covid-19 tests and then live in quarantine pending test results.
–
The result was negative for the American, but positive for his long-time head coach Mike Brown. Masvidal had to go to Abu Dhabi without him.
–
The wrestler was not happy that he was left without a head coach. “But the show has to go on and Mike will be with me,” Masvidals said.
–
He boarded a private plane and left for Abu Dhabi on July 6 at about 11:30 American time. The plane had to land in Bangor to refuel. It was also to land in London.
–
Instead, Masvidal asked the pilot to change his route to Rome – he wanted to eat pizza. About 10 kilograms had to be lost in four days.
—
