Jorge Masvidal Says Kamaru Usman Is 'Nowhere Near as Good as Advertised'

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman sports a 16-1 professional record, including a 15-match winning streak. He hasn't lost since May 2013 and is No. 6 in the pound-for-pound rankings.

Jorge Masvidal isn't impressed, however.

The No. 3-ranked contender for Usman's welterweight belt at UFC 251 on Saturday said the champion is "nowhere near as good as advertised," per MMA Fighting.

That quote follows a consistent theme that Masvidal has conveyed about Usman in recent months. Of note, Masvidal said this in December: "I'm going to embarrass him. People will think I've gone full heel with how badly I embarrass him. Our skill sets are nowhere near the same."

A fight between the two wasn't set up at the time, but that changed quickly as Masvidal was named as a replacement at UFC 251 for Gilbert Burns, who was scheduled to face Usman for the 170-pound belt before testing positive for COVID-19.

Masvidal has a pretty impressive resume himself. The Miami native is 35-13 over his 17-year professional career, including wins by TKO or knockout in his last three fights. One of those bouts was a five-second knockout victory via flying knee over Ben Askren last July.

The 35-year-old is also hard to take down: All of his losses have gone the distance since 2010.

He does enter this bout, which will take place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as a sizable underdog. Per Caesars Palace, Usman stands as a -230 favorite ($230 bet to win $100).

Still, the Usman-Masvidal main event looks to be a great fight on paper. It serves as the headliner for a card that also includes a featherweight title matchup between champion Alexander Volkanovski and No. 1-ranked contender Max Holloway. Petr Yan and Jose Aldo will vie for the vacant bantamweight championship. There are 13 fights on the card.