A defeated Masvidal accepted the fight on about a weeks notice, but American Top Team (ATT) Owner Dan Lambert says he tried talking Masvidal out of accepting the bout.
“I found out Gilbert dropped out because Jorge called me at like 1 o’clock in the morning,” Lambert told BJPenn.com. “He said hey, I’ll take that fight, let’s make some calls. I didn’t want him to [take it]. I tried to talk him out of it. That is like less than a week from today in Abu Dhabi, halfway around the world like are you out of your mind? He said, no, I’m taking the fight, it’s going to happen. Like alright, I’ll make a call and let them know you want it to happen and tell them to call your guys and start working it on it. I wasn’t a big fan of it happening on that kind of notice. There is a big difference between a guy who is around the gym and a guy in a training camp. But, Jorge Masvidal did pretty damn well.”
Masvidal replaced Gilbert Burns in the title fight after Burns wound up testing positive for the coronavirus.
Lambert believes that Masvidal should face former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor in his next Octagon appearance.
“Jorge probably has a much better seat at the table now that he has proven himself as a draw,” he said. “If I had my say, I want him to make as much money as possible. Conor McGregor is the biggest fight in the world for anybody. So, if I had my say, that would be his next.”
There is little chance that a Masvidal vs. McGregor bout happens, as UFC President Dana White has already shot that bout down.
