Dana White was in attendance at the event and after it was over, said a potential title bout between Usman and Jorge Masvidal would be massive.
“It’s massive,” White said at the UFC 245 post-fight press conference (via Danny Segura of MMA Junkie). “So think about this: How many times have we sat in this room, we did the lead-up to this big grudge match, these two guys hate each other going into the fight, and then I’m sitting here going, ‘And that fight sucked.’ How many grudge matches have actually been incredible fights? I say none. Maybe one I’m forgetting about, but they all pretty much suck. This grudge match was awesome, two guys in their prime who are at the top of the game, and the fight was the “Fight of the Night” in an incredible card. Yeah, the Masvidal fight vs. Usman, it’s a big deal. He fought (Nate) Diaz for the ‘BMF,’ belt and now to fight for the actual title against the guy who’s tough as nails, it’s fun.”
Usman may have a different opponent in mind for his next title defense, with that person being Leon Edwards.
“There’s a lot of tough guys in the division – a lot, a lot of tough guys,” Usman said at the UFC 245 post-fight news conference (via Mike Bohn & Ken Hathaway of MMA Junkie). “I mean, let’s be honest: If you’re talking about someone who is deserving, Leon Edwards hasn’t lost since he fought me. He’s been finishing guys and he’s now found myself in a position that I found myself in a little over a year ago, is everyone knew I was one of the toughest guys in the division and they didn’t want to take that gamble and risk on me.”
It should be noted that Masvidal is ahead of Edwards in the UFC Welterweight Division rankings, with Masvidal at #3 and Edwards at #4.
