Jorge Masvidal hasn’t had the greatest of weeks, and bringing up his backyard fighting background at a Nevada Athletic Commission meeting has only worsened matters.
On March 22, the ferocious athlete allegedly assaulted fellow welterweight Colby Covington at Papi Stake restaurant in Miami, Florida.
Masvidal supposedly ambushed his rival and punched him in the face, resulting in the victim sustaining damage to his teeth.
Despite Masvidal having ample opportunity to inflict legal violence on his nemesis in the octagon less than a month ago, he felt the need to take their beef to the streets. Whilst committing the alleged assault, he is said to have shouted: “You shouldn’t have been talking about my kids.”
As per NBC News, the fighter handed himself in to police on March 23. They charged him with aggravated battery and criminal mischief. But that wasn’t the only negative thing to happen to him on that day.
Read: MMA twitter goes in hard on Jorge Masvidal after Colby Covington attack reports.
Jorge Masvidal ‘backyard fighting’ days didn’t do him any favours
The UFC icon’s dreams of promoting his own events in Las Vegas have taken a knock. Due to the recent incident, he agreed with the Nevada Athletic Commission to delay a hearing that would give him a license for his company ‘Gambred Promotions’ to hold events in Nevada.
Making his first public comments since the alleged assault, he said: “Since I do have an open case, I’m not supposed to talk about it. But I guess you’re referencing it. Yeah, if we could table it, it’d be better. Right now, I had a mutual combatance with another athlete. I can’t say too much on this, is what they told me to say. If we could table it for later, that’d be amazing, as well.”
The meeting concluded with Masvidal putting himself in hot water. The commission asked him if he had any closing words, and in an incredibly awkward moment, the sportsman brought up his backyard fighting days. He tried to paint it as a heroic rags-to-riches tale, but it didn’t work out like that.
He said: “Thank you all for your time. I started out fighting in backyards, and now I can’t believe that I’m in front of you guys with the possibility that I might get my license. So just again, it’s an honour to even have you guys’ time. Thank you all; God bless.”
The commission, clearly stunned, descended into silence until one of them questioned: “Time out, you were fighting in backyards?”
A panicked Masvidal replied: “Well, I started fighting when I was like 16 or 17 years old with Kimbo Slice over twenty years ago, and my journey now has led me to this, where I could possibly get a license and do shows in Las Vegas. I mean, it’s an insane experience; it’s very humbling for me.”
His background on the streets has made him into the immensely popular figure he is today. But it might not be constructive in securing his Las Vegas promoter’s license.
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