Masvidal popularity rise is incredible

[Bork Neslar]

He's a very good and entertaining fighter. It doesn't matter if some ignorant lard-asses call him "journeyman" on these forums.

 

[Candy Routure]

His dirtbag persona coincides perfectly with the youth of today.

 

[Kdup]

Naaaaaah.

No one wants Usman to win, we're just not as hopeful he'll beat him as we were last time. And by 'we' I mean everybody.

Maybe he'll surprise us, who knows, not likely though.

So the desire is still there, it's just the morale is real low.

I think he’s gonna win. I think usman gonna try to hard to finish him to prove he’s not a toe stomper. And he’s gonna make a fatal error that the savvy vet will capitalize on and KO him.

 

[storeybuckle]

Success story for a journeyman.

A journeyman is some one who bounce from promotion to promotion due to being unable to put together win streaks. Masvidal has been in the UFC since 2013 and had a a stint in Strikeforce before being bought out.

Although he was a bit of a journeyman before i.e Elite XC, shark fights he does not fit into the definition of “journeyman” these days.

I guess it’s “cool” that he’s called a journeyman but that term has been incorrect for a decade

 

[youllneverwalkalone]

He might not be a great fighter in terms of his skill ( even tho you have to rank him Top 5 current WW), but he is simply a cool dude, a real psycho and has a very nice fightingstyle. Good hands, good power, always a punchers chance, good workrate, good chin, never gets totally fucked up. So a living proof that you can become a superstar without being champion material. And who knows, one great connection and he might very well become the ww champ. Chances arent great, but they are not nonexistent either.

Masvidal has amazing skills. He is literally one of the most skilled, most well-rounded fighters at any weight classes. Has great boxing, great MT, very good BJJ (Maia was super complimentary after their fight) and solid wrestling against anyone not named Colby and Usman.

He is not extremely dominant in any area though, which is one of the reasons (the other being his size) why he probably will never be the champion.

 

[The Rivv]

You left out the part where directly after knocking Till unconscious, he walked away in the middle of his post-fight interview to give Leon Edwards a "three piece and a soda."

He left that part out because that wasn’t cool or gangster it was a bitch move from a grown adult. Doesn’t help that he refuses to fight Leon either.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

So he lost 2 times in a row, then beat Daren waterless brain down and sent past prime Askaren to shadow realm.
Ufc gave him Nate for BMF belt since they acknowledged Masvidal has hell of a potential to be a star.
So dude went from gatekeeper and food for Till to one of biggest UFC draws in 7 months. Wow

You forgot his upset win over Leon Edwards. I think that was a pivotal point in conjunction with beating Askren.

Doesn’t help that he refuses to fight Leon either.

Leon needs amother win before Masvidal gives him a rematch.

 

[The Rivv]

It’s crazy how fast people turned on him too. I think everyone wanted him to beat Usman the first time. Now a lot of people are hoping Usman murks him, including myself.

Some, yes very. But he did a lot to damage his reputation among fans.

 

[Tracav]

Then went to getting pimped by Jake Paul and being a disgrace to the whole MMA community, crazy journey lol

 

[jitzmonkey]

The 3 piece was also hugely beneficial for his popularity.It's a bit surprising though how much i see the perception of masvidal change in here lately.

I think he has overdone it a bit with the tough guy persona.

Lived in his car so that he could dedicate his whole life to training; fought in unregulated backyard fights... doesn't seem overdone, frankly.

 

[TheScorpionDude]

I think he’s gonna win. I think usman gonna try to hard to finish him to prove he’s not a toe stomper. And he’s gonna make a fatal error that the savvy vet will capitalize on and KO him.

I wouldn't mind it one bit

 

[Joseph Alfano]

Losing on Saturday and then pricing himself out of any future top 10 fights will result in him fighting nate "i block punches with my face" Diaz. And then he will fizzle out

 

[SeattleFightFan]

Ya he played it well. Till to Edwards to Askren to Diaz. He captured the fan imagination in a way few others have.

And then he capitalized, in a way that offended many of these bandwagon fans. By picking opponents and holding out.

Such is life.

 

[HHJ]

It’s crazy how fast people turned on him too. I think everyone wanted him to beat Usman the first time. Now a lot of people are hoping Usman murks him, including myself.

Fuck them.

 

[kingghidrah]

Not too surprising. He used the Conor formula: win fights and act like a total moronic douchebag. People love assholes, and MMA fans are particularly drawn to slobbering idiots. But you have to win fights to back it up, which is why his journeyman career didn't get him anywhere. Some big wins gave him the platform to reveal his idiocy, and that propelled him to the next level. People who are impressed with brawling outside the octagon, and think lines like "3 piece" are clever are always going to prop guys like this up. We'll see more of it when Masvidal is gone too.

He's already starting to pick his spots like Diaz did, which causes one's star to fade a bit. But look at the result-- he is fighting an immediate rematch of a fight he lost, so it's working out for him so far. If he somehow manages to beat Usman it will have paid off big time. Odds are way against him, but if he catches Usman on a bad day it could happen. Look at Bisping vs. Rockhold, at the time no one thought that was possible, but Bisping went from journeyman to champ so why not Mas?

 

[HatKick]

Masvidal has amazing skills. He is literally one of the most skilled, most well-rounded fighters at any weight classes. Has great boxing, great MT, very good BJJ (Maia was super complimentary after their fight) and solid wrestling against anyone not named Colby and Usman.

He is not extremely dominant in any area though, which is one of the reasons (the other being his size) why he probably will never be the champion.

Couldn't agree more. He's one of the most well-rounded fighters active today. His grappling is super underrated. His main problem against a guy like Usman is he simply gets outsized and outmuscled. If they were actually the same size Masvidal would be the better fighter.

 

[Sheldon Erich Doll]

His skillset is high, bravado, career resurgence. He has all the aspects of a superstar. I think early on his inconsistencies pulling the trigger sometimes made the UFC marketing hesitant to focus on him. Once he turned it up per say he just got the exposure to show who he really is.

 

[SeaChad]

he has an exciting style. Lots of guys like that get really popular

 

[tech99]

I mean it was his KO of Askren that really made him popular, which we can now see basically means nothing. He is a good fighter but he will never be champ, he loses to Usman 100/100 times they fight. He will certainly put on some exciting fights though.

 

[HHJ]

I mean it was his KO of Askren that really made him popular, which we can now see basically means nothing..

No matter how hard you try to frame it differently,that will be a very long remembered knockout. Long after you get banned.