Jorge Masvidal (35-15, 18 finishes), who will headline UFC 272 on pay-per-view Saturday night from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, recently spoke with Post reporter Scott Fontana for the the Post Fight Interview, a recurring Q&A feature, ahead of his welterweight matchup against former fellow American Top Team member Colby Covington (16-3, eight finishes).
Q: What does American Top Team mean to you?
A: It’s my temple. It’s the holy of holies for me. It’s the place where it’s brought out the better person in me for many different reasons. … You wouldn’t be interviewing me if it wasn’t for American Top Team. It’s amazing the type of energy we’ve got there.
Q: Is there extra energy in the gym for this fight with Covington than the average non-title fight?
A: I can’t tell you how riled up my teammates are. They come hugging me — guys that they hardly talk to me — they come give me a pat on the back, hug me. They’re like, “Man, you’ve got to f–k this guy up. You need me for anything, you need help, my brother, I am right here for you.” Every f–king day, it’s just cheering, like I’m sparring, and I’ve got like 20, 30 pros watching me because they’re so f–king jacked up and excited.
Q: You vs. Covington is a grudge match. To what degree is this a real vs. played up for promotion?
A: If I saw Colby right now, anywhere, I would beat the f–king sh-t out of him. You can put that into whatever perspective you want.
Q: Could you see yourselves burying the hatchet afterward?
A: I can’t see myself eye-to-eye with somebody like that, that will talk about women, that will talk about an opponent’s kids, that’ll talk about an opponent’s religion, that’ll talk about an opponent’s country. Those are people I don’t side with. I don’t like that style of marketing whatsoever. … Yeah, it’s great to make fun of your opponents. If someone’s making fun of me, no hard feelings. [Say] whatever you want to say about me, but what do my kids have to do with it exactly? Tell me, because if you think that’s going to strike a nerve or you think that’s going to sell more pay-per-views, whatever it is, it’s a scumbag move. So, the only hatchet I’m burying with Colby is in his f–king neck.
Q: You’re coming off your first knockout loss, against champion Kamaru Usman last April, since 2008. Where were you at mentally after that fight?
A: I had a lot of great people around me. I didn’t want to get right back in there. I didn’t know what to do, so my manager, Ibrahim Kawa, pulled me aside and was like, “Man, I don’t want you fighting. And if it’s a year from now, then that’s what it will be, but I want you not to fight for a while. I want you to get your head right. I want your brain to heal.” Because, really, it’s the first knockout of my life. They say there’s a [technical] KO on my record, but if you go look at that fight [against Rodrigo Damm], I was nowhere near KO’d. Usman KO’d me.
Q: Now that you’re a fight promoter (Gamebred Fighting Championship), what have you learned about that side of the fight game that you didn’t know a year ago?
A: What I’ve learned, maybe is, f–k, it’s not easy being a promoter. I’ll tell you that much. Even with all the resources and all the connections I have in the fight game, it’s not easy being a promoter. It’s tough. And there’s a lot of nightmares that happen. Two [or] three days before the show goes down, my main event [fighter] gets in a car crash. It’s like, “What the f–k?” But it’s something I’ve always known in the fight world. It happens.
Q: Where is the BMF belt right now?
A: It’s a good friend of mine [who keeps it for me]. … And he has more guns than most police departments do in his house, with a bunch of dogs and all types of stuff. So I’ve got my belt at his house. Whenever I need it, I take the belt with me, but he’s in charge of that belt for me.
Q: You can fight anyone in history. Who do you pick?
A: Fidel Castro’s bitch-ass.
Q: Typical walkaround weight between fights?
A: It depends, man. I could be anywhere from 184 to 200 pounds. Depends what part of the world I’m in, how I’m feeling, what I’m eating.
Q: What do you expect to weigh on fight night?
A: Mid [180s] to high [180s].
Q: What’s a perfect day for you that doesn’t involve fighting?
A: I wake up. My dad’s got the mean ass coffee ready for me because my dad makes the best coffee I’ve ever had. Maybe my kids and I go to the movies and we pig out. Then after that, when I get some downtime by myself, I smoke a fat joint. I’m talking about it looks like a f–king arm of a joint. I get so blasted and twisted. Then maybe I go to the beach. … Nature, definitely. If I can have some nature, if I can just get a nice little beach [and] a fat joint, that’s pretty good for me.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: I don’t have a favorite movie, but I have many movies that I like. “Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas” is pretty good; “Scarface;” “The Big Lebowski;” “Wedding Crashers;” “Avengers,” the whole series is pretty f–king cool.
Q: Favorite video game?
A: “Call of Duty” was probably, for a long time, my favorite game. Even as a professional fighter, I was putting in like six or seven hours a day on that game. I don’t know how I used to do that. I used to be actually pretty damn decent at that game. I wouldn’t sleep though. … I love “FIFA,” although I suck at it. I’m f–king trash, but I love that game.
Q: Favorite song?
A: I couldn’t say I have one, brother. There’s so many good songs out there. … I love my Latin music. I love hearing my native tongue on rhythms.
Q: What will you be doing in 10 years?
A: I’ll just be glorifying God’s name harder than ever, brother.