Jorge Masvidal on UFC Fight Negotiations: 'If I'm Not Worth It, Let Me Go'

UFC BMF champion Jorge Masvidal seemed to take issue with the UFC through a series of tweets Friday in which he expressed frustration over what UFC is offering to pay him in order to fight. 

Masvidal started by tweeting, "If I'm not worth it let me go," and followed it up with additional tweets focused on money:

Most recently, Masvidal beat Nate Diaz by technical knockout at UFC 244 in November. According to MMA Fighting, Masvidal has since expressed interest in fighting Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington, but he has been unable to secure a fight.

In a subsequent tweet, Masvidal said UFC told him Usman "asked for way too much" to compete in a potential fight with him. Usman is the reigning UFC Welterweight champion, and Masvidal questioned why he should have to take a pay cut from his last fight in order to fight Usman for the title.

Per MMA Fighting, UFC president Dana White responded to Masvidal's tweets Friday and shot down Masvidal's claim that UFC bought an island:

"I think everybody wants more money. I think everybody wants more money in all these other sports ... and Masvidal says, 'You've got enough money to buy islands.' Let me repeat for the [expletive] billionth time: I did not buy an island, OK? We did not buy an island.

"The reason we're doing the ['Fight] Island' is so that fights can go, and these kids from Europe and the rest of the world can make money and can work. So I think a lot of people are really, I don't know if it's frustrated and confused, or whatever the situation is right now. These other sports are trying to figure out negotiations how people will play for half the money they would play for before. Some of these other sports might not even go this year, the way things are looking. People are losing their minds."

White was seemingly referencing Major League Baseball, as the players and owners are struggling to come to terms on salaries for a shortened season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Because of that, it is possible there will be no baseball in 2020.

The 35-year-old Masvidal is currently ranked third in UFC's welterweight rankings behind Gilbert Burns and Covington. He is riding a three-fight winning streak with victories over Diaz, Ben Askren and Darren Till.

Overall, Masvidal is 35-13 in his professional MMA career with 16 wins by way of knockout and two by submission. He also owns the distinction of having the fastest knockout in UFC history, as he beat Askren in just five seconds at UFC 239 last year.

Masvidal vs. Usman or Masvidal vs. Covington would both be worthy pay-per-view main events for UFC and would likely generate a great deal of interest among hardcore UFC fans, but it is clear that Masvidal feels slighted based on the way negotiations have gone thus far.