ATT owner Dan Lambert reveals he didn't want Jorge Masvidal to take last-minute fight against Kamaru Usman

Jorge Masvidal was the first man approached to fight Kamaru Usman at UFC 251 on Fight Island. Unfortunately, UFC offered Jorge Masvidal a lower amount than what he was paid for his blockbuster PPV main event against Nate Diaz at UFC 244.

As a result, he refused and UFC chose to go with Gilbert Burns instead. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was pulled out of the bout. Jorge Masvidal immediately threw in his hat and said that he got an amount "close" to what he wanted.

Speaking to Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com, ATT owner Dan Lambert revealed why he was against Jorge Masvidal taking the fight against Kamaru Usman on just six days' notice:

“I found out Gilbert dropped out because Jorge called me at like 1 o’clock in the morning. He said hey, I’ll take that fight, let’s make some calls. I didn’t want him to [take it]. I tried to talk him out of it,” Lambert said. “That is like less than a week from today in Abu Dhabi, halfway around the world like are you out of your mind?"

He admitted that Jorge Masvidal was stubborn and wanted to take the fight, but thinks that he did well given the circumstances:

“He said, no, I’m taking the fight, it’s going to happen. Like alright, I’ll make a call and let them know you want it to happen and tell them to call your guys and start working it on it. I wasn’t a big fan of it happening on that kind of notice,” he continued. “There is a big difference between a guy who is around the gym and a guy in a training camp. But, Jorge Masvidal did pretty damn well.”

Dan Lambert wants a big money fight for Jorge Masvidal next

Dan Lambert told BJPENN.com that now that Jorge Masvidal has become a proven draw (with UFC 251 doing 1.3 million PPV buys), he wants him to have a big-money fight against Conor McGregor. He did, however, acknowledge the fact that Jorge Masvidal is now more focused on the Welterweight Championship than a money fight.

Lambert also believes that a Jorge Masvidal-Conor McGregor fight would likely be the second-biggest fight in UFC history after Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor. Jorge Masvidal believes that he now knows what it takes to beat Kamaru Usman and intends to rack up a couple of wins before running it back with The Nigerian Nightmare.

In The Anatomy of a Fighter, Kamaru Usman revealed post-fight that he thinks he's going to meet Jorge Masvidal again sooner or later.