09 April 2023 , 08:08
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Jorge Masvidal announced his UFC retirement after he was beaten by Gilbert Burns in his fourth successive defeat.
Masvidal, 38, hinted that he would retire from fighting if he lost to Burns before their fight and he lived up to his promise after losing a one-sided decision to the Brazilian on Saturday night. 'Gamebred' was looking to pick up his first win in over two years in front of a hometown Miami crowd, but Burns was too much for him on the night.
In his post-fight interview, Masvidal took off his gloves and admitted that he doesn't have the same love for fighting that he had at the start of his career."I love everybody here, thank you everybody for watching. This is where I started my career, it's been a long 20 years. Fifty something fights, sometimes your favourite basketball player doesn't have that three-pointer or your favourite quarterback loses that rifle.
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"I don't feel the same when I get in here anymore, it's been 20 long years and I love all of you. The UFC came here 20 years ago and it inspired me to chase this dream. Hopefully I inspired somebody in here to go and fight for theirs no matter what it is. I love this sport, I'm a multi-millionaire that didn't have s*** when I started and now I can say I'm good for life
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Masvidal also shouted out former US President Donald Trump, who was cageside for the Miami event. "Also I want to say the greatest President in the history of the world is sitting right there. I love that guy, we've also got the greatest governor of all-time here in Florida. Let's keep Florida free."
'Gamebred' made his professional debut in 2003 and racked up 30 fights before debuting with the UFC in 2013. Frequent split decision losses to the likes of Lorenz Larkin and Al Iaquinta meant Masvidal failed to ever establish himself as a top contender, but he credited going on a reality TV show for a sudden revival in his fighting career.
Masvidal went on to win fights against Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz after his appeareance on the show and he quickly established himself as one of the UFC's most popular fighters. The 38-year-old challenged twice for the welterweight title by lost out to Kamaru Usman on both occasions. Masvidal still holds the record for the quickest knockout in UFC history at five seconds and he was also crowned the inaugural 'BMF' champion after his win against Diaz.