Jorge Masvidal says Bare Knuckle MMA will be a hit with fans.
Jorge Masvidal: From Fighter to Promoter
Retirement hasn’t slowed down Jorge Masvidal. After his fourth straight defeat in the Octagon, Masvidal announced his retirement in front of his hometown crowd in Miami. But he’s not done with the fight game just yet. Masvidal has transitioned to a new role as a full-time fight promoter, creating the fight cards for his own league, Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA.
The Most Violent Show on Earth
According to Masvidal, Gamebred MMA is the first and only professional bareknuckle MMA league in the U.S. The latest installment of the league falls on Cinco de Mayo and will be held at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, FL. It will also be the first-ever sanctioned bareknuckle MMA fight in that state.
The entire Gamebred card will stream live on Masvidal’s YouTube and Facebook pages, starting at 8pm ET. The card includes:
- Roy Nelson vs. Dillon Cleckler
- Emiliano Sordi vs. Markus Perez
- Donovan Beard vs. Handesson Ferreira
- Joe Penefeil vs Irwin Rivera
- Jamahl Tatum vs. Carl Seumanutafa
- Sean Soriano vs. Ago Huskic
- Anthony Njokuani vs. James Freeman
- Darion Abbey vs. Frank Tate
- Charles Bennett vs. Keith Speed
- Fidel Paulino vs. Alexander Schenk
- Juan Alvarez vs. Chris Wingate
- Ryan Kuse vs. Drew Morais
With the card just a few days away, Masvidal explains what it takes to make Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA an organization that will continue to attract top talent going forward.
From Fighter to Promoter
As a fighter who has worn every hat in the fight game, from corner man to sparring partner, Masvidal has a unique perspective on promoting. “Promoting is one of the things that I like the most,” he says. “I’m going to take off with my own different route and saucing.”
Masvidal’s vision for his league is different from other promoters. “I have different visions in my eyes that I see from my 20 years of providing things I want to fix up on the pro fighter side things that means nothing that would have liked maybe a little bit more attention to.”
Why Bare Knuckle?
Masvidal started in bare knuckle fighting and always wanted to start a bare knuckle league. “When you’re talking about what is the closest thing to like, real-life combat, this is pretty much it,” he says. “And it’s not just for strikers, but also for grappling because now you don’t have these big, bulky gloves on top of the pad that kind of messes with your. So even for grapplers it’s more realistic to actual combat, and I just love it.”
At the end of the day, Masvidal believes that bare knuckle fighting leads to more finishes. “The finishes go through the roof when you take the gloves off, whether it be a knockout or submission.”
Is Everyone Ready for Bare Knuckle Fighting?
“It might even be worse than it sounds,” Masvidal admits. “If you’re not into that, then I get it, you know, you can go there’s 100 other sports that you might be into, you know, but this is like that, that grit and desire—and violence. So it’s not going to be everybody’s cup of tea at the beginning, but it’ll slowly catch on.”
Is the World Big Enough for Another Fight League?
“Definitely, especially one like mine,” Masvidal says. “I’ll just tsunami over all of them when it comes to attracting fight fans. Some of them might be just more fans of me.”
Jorge Masvidal Talks Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA
How do you sell your league to fighters?
“We talked to their team and get some numbers on paper, and once we come to agreements, the next thing is to put it on paper to make it happen.
You know, a lot of these fighters also know that I have my good cred—I’ve been fighting for 20 years of real fighting and they know the platform that I bring. They know we’ll be bringing as many eyeballs as possible to the sport.
Was a Cinco De Mayo fight card by design?
“Oh yeah. Our fight will be kind of a kickoff of Formula One, which is here in South Florida [this weekend]. It’s like welcoming F1 to South Florida with a bang. We have Big Country, Roy Nelson—19 finishes, 16 coming by the way of knockout to the face—versus Dillon Cleckler. We have some other big boys as well on the show. We’re pumped.”
What’s gonna make Jorge Masvidal the best promoter in the game?
“There’s a lot of great promoters but I’ll be different one than all of them, because I’m one of the few who actually fought from all stages—I’ve worn every hat there is to wear in fighting, from corner man to sparring partner, training partner. I’ve given guys professional business, you know, so I’ve been like an unofficial manager for a lot of friends in the sport.
Promoting is one of the things that I like the most—my first thing that I liked the most is obviously competing, fighting. The second thing I liked the most is the promotion. I’m going to take off with my own different route and saucing.
None of these promoters have and you can see that happen because I have a different mindset. I have different visions in my eyes that I see from my 20 years of providing things I want to fix up on the pro fighter side things that means nothing that would have liked maybe a little bit.
Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA Fight Card
The fourth Gamebred Bareknuckle event will be held on Cinco de Mayo at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, FL. The fights will be the first-ever sanctioned bareknuckle MMA fight in the state. The entire card will stream live on Masvidal’s YouTube and Facebook pages, starting at 8pm ET. The entire card includes:
- Roy Nelson vs. Dillon Cleckler
- Emiliano Sordi vs. Markus Perez
- Donovan Beard vs. Handesson Ferreira
- Joe Penefeil vs Irwin Rivera
- Jamahl Tatum vs. Carl Seumanutafa
- Sean Soriano vs. Ago Huskic
- Anthony Njokuani vs. James Freeman
- Darion Abbey vs. Frank Tate
- Charles Bennett vs. Keith Speed
- Fidel Paulino vs. Alexander Schenk
- Juan Alvarez vs. Chris Wingate
- Ryan Kuse vs. Drew Morais
Why Bare Knuckle Fighting?
So, why bare knuckle? This is a question I get asked a lot. For me, it all started in bare knuckle fighting. A lot of people first got their buzz about me in bare knuckle. I always felt like I wanted to start a bare knuckle league and see how it would go. There is no bare knuckle MMA, and when you’re talking about what is the closest thing to real-life combat, this is pretty much it. It’s not just for strikers, but also for grappling because now you don’t have these big, bulky gloves on top of the pad that kind of messes with you. So even for grapplers, it’s more realistic to actual combat, and I just love it. At the end of the day, the finishes go through the roof when you take the gloves off, whether it be a knockout or submission.
Is Bare Knuckle Fighting Brutal?
Is everyone ready for bare knuckle fighting? Is it as brutal as the name implies? It might even be worse than it sounds. If you’re not into that, then I get it, you know, you can go there’s 100 other sports that you might be into, you know, but this is like that, that grit and desire—and violence. So it’s not it’s not going to be everybody’s cup of tea at the beginning, buy it’ll slowly catch on in.
Is the World Big Enough for Another Fight League?
Definitely, especially one like mine. You look at the No. 1 promoter in the world, Dana White. The No. 2 guy in promoting doesn’t have the social media following like Dana White. So I’ll just tsunami over all of them when it comes to attracting fight fans. Some of them might be just more fans of me for political views or things that I’ve done, but for the most part about 85% of my audience are fight fans. So when you’re talking about promoting, it’s like, there’s nobody messing with me in that field. Besides Dana White, of course, who is king of kings of promotion.
How Do You Sell Your League to Fighters?
We talked to their team and get some numbers on paper, and once we come to agreements, the next thing is to put it on paper to make it happen. You know, a lot of these fighters also know that I have my good cred—I’ve been fighting for 20 years of real fighting and they know the platform that I bring. They know we’ll be bringing as many eyeballs as possible to the sport.
Was a Cinco De Mayo Fight Card by Design?
Oh yeah. Our fight will be kind of a kickoff of Formula One, which is here in South Florida [this weekend]. It’s like welcoming F1 to South Florida with a bang. We have Big Country, Roy Nelson—19 finishes, 16 coming by the way of knockout to the face—versus Dillon Cleckler. We have some other big boys as well on the show. We’re pumped.
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