Jorge Masvidal Recalls Father Telling Him to Choose Fighting Over Military
Jorge Masvidal says his fighting life started with a choice his father made for him. The former UFC welterweight star told DC MMA that he once put two futures on the table, special forces or the cage, and waited for the answer that sent him into the UFC.
Masvidal framed it as a straight conversation, not a speech. He looked at his dad and laid out both paths.
“I look at my dad and I go ‘listen, I got two options, Ima either do this UFC fighting sht, or I’m gonna go in the military and be like a commando, some special forces sht.’ He pauses for a minute or two, and he goes ‘you should do that fighting sh*t for sure man, I’m with you, let’s go.'”
That blessing is the point of the story. Masvidal did not say he had a recruiter waiting or a contract in hand. He said he needed his father with him, and he got it.
The Miami native has told versions of that origin for years. He was born to a Cuban father and a Peruvian mother, and he has said his father left Cuba on a self-made raft as a young man.
Street fighting came first. Masvidal was part of the backyard circuit made famous by Kimbo Slice, then turned pro in 2003 and spent two decades in MMA.
The UFC chapter is what that parental green light became. Masvidal went 12-10 inside the promotion, won the symbolic BMF title over Nate Diaz at UFC 244, and still owns the fastest knockout in UFC history, a five-second flying knee against Ben Askren at UFC 239.
He also challenged for the welterweight championship twice. Kamaru Usman beat him by decision on Fight Island in 2020, then knocked him out in the rematch at UFC 261.
A unanimous decision loss to Colby Covington at UFC 272 followed. Masvidal then retired in his hometown after a decision defeat to Gilbert Burns at UFC 287 in April 2023, closing a 35-17 MMA record.
He has not been idle since. Masvidal lost a 10-round boxing majority decision to Diaz in July 2024 and has built Gamebred FC into a bare-knuckle MMA promotion now headed to DAZN.
That broadcast deal was announced last month. The next four Gamebred cards are set for Sept. 12 in Russia, Oct. 2 in the Dominican Republic, and Miami dates on Oct. 30 and Dec. 12.
At 41, he is also talking about walking back into the Octagon. Masvidal told MMA Junkie in late August that he has been in discussions with the UFC and that the numbers are getting closer, with a possible return this year or early 2027.
No opponent is booked. He has named Leon Edwards as someone he would like to settle unfinished business with, but he said the UFC has not put a name and a number in front of him that is worth announcing.
The dad story sits next to that comeback talk for a reason. Masvidal is reminding people that fighting was never a default hobby. It was the option his father picked when the other choice was a military life.
He has said family still keeps him in line. His parents and his kids depend on him, which is the same through-line as a young man asking for permission to chase the UFC instead of becoming a commando.
None of that makes a return official. It does explain why Gamebred, the DAZN dates, and the UFC talks all still orbit the same decision he made in that pause.
If the UFC offer lands, the fighter his father backed will be back at T-Mobile Arena looking for one more name. If it does not, the promotion he built is already on the calendar, starting in 10 days in Russia.