Inside world of bare-knuckle MMA dubbed ‘most VIOLENT show’ where ‘skulls vibrate’ in brutal bouts made by ex-UFC star
JORGE MASVIDAL is providing fans with the “most VIOLENT show” on Earth by mixing his two passions together.
Masvidal became a cult hero during his UFC days and stands as the proud owner of the fastest knockout in octagon history.
But nearly 20 years before rendering Ben Askren unconscious in five seconds with a flying knee, the American was a feared street fighter.
He shot to underground fame on YouTube brawling on the streets of Miami for $500 at a time after being recruited by viral sensation Kimbo Slice.
So when Masvidal launched Gamebred Fighting Championship in 2021, he married together his two loves to produce sweet violence.
He introduced bare-knuckle MMA, where fighters compete without gloves on in the cage, which returns on Saturday streaming free on Kick.
Masvidal, 37, told SunSport: “There’s more submissions, there’s more knockouts, there’s more cuts, it’s more violence. So it’s not everybody’s cup of tea.
“But for the right type of person that wants to see two trained killers going at it with no gloves and see what would happen in real life this is it right here.
“When we did Junior dos Santos’ fight with Fabricio Werdum over a period of five hours we had a million views.
“That just shows, like man, we’re heading down the right path. This is the right cup of tea for a lot of people are we’re going to keep pushing this product that nobody has.
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“And on March 2nd, I bring you the world’s most violent show, Junior dos Santos versus Alan Belcher for the heavyweight title.”
Masvidal says bare-knuckle MMA bouts have a brutal 80 per cent stoppage ratio.
He added: “People are just going to sleep, sleep from ground and pound.
“Because they get hit with that bare-knuckle fist and they’re on that mat and they don’t get to absorb it.
“It’s all on their skull freakin’ vibrating. Those are pretty gnarly. Some submissions and obviously a lot of blood.
“You’ll see a guy with a submission and as he’s squeezing he’s pouring blood and this guy’s pouring blood and it’s just a bloodbath.
“That’s definitely something you don’t see as much with the padded gloves. But the knockouts when they do happen are just violent.”
Masvidal credits much of his career to Slice but what would the street fighting king think of bare-knuckle MMA?
“He’d be sitting there ringside with me handing out belts, having a good old time just promoting fights and finding the future talent,” Masvidal replied.
“I always give a big shout out to Kimbo because he allowed me to come onto his platform back then when he was a rockstar on YouTube, getting millions of views.
“Nobody knew me and he asked me, ‘Hey, do you want to come fight on my platform?’ He opened that door for me as a mixed martial artist and pro fighter to just build a platform.”
Masvidal emotionally announced his retirement from MMA last April in his home of Miami following defeat to Gilbert Burns.
But surrounding himself immersing himself in promoting fights has done nothing to itch the scratch that has plagued him since hanging up his gloves.
And now Masvidal has confirmed he is coming back this year – but not in the MMA cage.
He said:“Does a dog miss a bone, brother? Hell yeah, every mother f***ing day.
“I’m coming back to do boxing this year, that’s definitely maybe something the UK didn’t know too much about.
“I’m definitely going to be doing boxing this year.”