Jorge Masvidal Knee Deep In Legal Battles
BMF titleholder takes to court to smooth things out with former management company.
Jorge Masvidal, a former competitor of Strikeforce and current UFC BMF titleholder, has recently gained much attention for his legal battles as opposed to sanctioned fighting, so it’s fortunate for Masvidal that he even has a profession bout currently scheduled.
Masivdal and Colby Covington, a former friend, teammate, and rival, are currently tangled in a court dispute over claims that the 38-year-old assaulted Covington outside a Miami restaurant in March of last year.
However, “Gamebred” also disclosed that he’s engaged in a different legal matter during a recent interview on the MMA Hour. This legal matter involves an alleged rift between Masvidal and First Round Management.
In December of late last year Masvidal parted ways with First Round Management, but it was reported that the two parties were still on good terms. Now, it appears that is considerably less likely the case.
“100 percent split with them,” Masvidal said (transcript via MMA Junkie). “You know, my momma always said, ‘Babe, if you have nothing good to say, don’t say nothing at all.’ So right now we’re going through some turmoil, litigation, that it’s not fair. I’m not going to talk about this or that right now, just we’re still going through it. At the end of this chapter, when all these things get done, I’ll have an exact report on that. We’re going through court and I don’t want to talk about anything right now, anything more than what I just said.
“We’re not in the greatest of terms, I’ll tell you that. I have no ill will towards them. I don’t owe them any money. They don’t owe me any money, but there’s other things that have affected the relationship severely. That they could fix, that they could’ve fixed by now, but they haven’t, so I’m just waiting for these things to get resolved.”
Jorge Masvial talks his split with FRM.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/wdfxN3C7Ho
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) January 30, 2023
Masvidal even had a long-term connection with Iman Kawa, the sister of the FRM owners, which Colby Covington used in their now-famous conflict. Masvidal, known of their combative approach to media relations, and seems thrilled to be operating on his own terms at this time.
“They have their own way of doing stuff and it doesn’t appeal to a lot of people. There was a lot of people that I wasn’t talking because they have beef with them. I’m talking to everybody right now. Every week someone is trying to pitch me to go to lunch or some f*cking movie script this, sponsorship there. Ok, one day closed, but 2,000 windows opened. I’m managing myself.”
In the co-main event of UFC 287, which will take place on April 8 at an unspecified venue, Masvidal will face Gilbert Burns. Burns is calling for Masvidal to lay his BMF title on the line, a title which he won over Nate Diaz back in November 2019.