Jorge Masvidal can’t find his treasure on UFC’s ‘Fight Island’

UFC welterweight star Jorge Masvidal knew what he was signing up for when he accepted a title fight halfway around the world on six days’ notice, needing to cut 22 pounds to face a dominant champion capable of smothering him for 25 minutes.

The challenge proved to be too much when Masvidal finally got to “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and stepped into the cage with Kamaru Usman early Sunday in the main event of UFC 251.

“The weight cut was tough like everybody knows,” Masvidal said after losing a title fight for the first time in his 17-year career. “I had a little bit of weight to cut, but I’m not going to sit here and make excuses. He won. He was the better man tonight. I gambled the dice on myself. I knew I didn’t have the greatest gas tank coming in, but I’m still a dangerous man. Six days, one day, six weeks, so hats off to him. We’ll do it again.”

Predictably, Masvidal’s best round was the first. He found space and kept Usman at bay with success in the striking game, even getting up immediately the one time Usman got him to the ground.

Usman then started to settle in, and fatigue took effect for Masvidal. Usman clinched him against the cage and peppered him with shoulder strikes, foot stomps and body shots en route to a unanimous decision.

It wasn’t the most thrilling performance, but another display of dominance for a champion who has 16 straight wins overall and 12 consecutive victories since entering the UFC through a championship performance on Season 21 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Despite the overwhelming success, Usman hasn’t broken through in popularity on the same level as Masvidal. He realizes his style might be the issue, but he won’t apologize.

Usman saw the social media reaction quick to criticize him for not engaging in the type of brawls that have made Masvidal so beloved by fans.

“There was a time when people started hating Floyd Mayweather because he was so dominant, because his defense was so good, he was just so good at what he did to where everyone is like, ‘Oh, that’s boring,’ because people want to see a bar fight,” Usman said. “We’re risking our lives in there. What’s the point of training each and every day and going in there and just slugging around and taking punches? You train to be able to make someone miss, to be able to control them in a certain way. That’s what training is for, so you’re not just taking punishment at will, and I do that better than anybody.”

Masvidal thinks he could close that gap given another opportunity.

“I’ve got a good formula in my head on how to beat him the next time,” he said. “I thought I had the formula. Now I know it — it takes a lot of gas tank, a lot of conditioning, a lot more wrestling rounds with high-level guys.”

The rematch might have to wait. Usman was to fight Gilbert Burns before Burns tested positive for the coronavirus, prompting the switch to Masvidal. Burns most likely is next in line for a title shot. Usman also has lobbied for Georges St. Pierre to return to settle the debate of most dominant welterweight champion in UFC history.

Masvidal and Usman are certain of one thing: If there’s a rematch, they don’t want the promotion to be as nasty as it was for this fight.

“I just feel like me and him, now we don’t have to promote the next fight like that,” Masvidal said. “We don’t have to talk about each other’s religion or ethnicities or nothing like that. I just think about the future generations. You don’t have to promote fights like that to sell pay-per-views.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.