Masvidal thinks he could surpass Usman with longer training camp

Jorge Masvidal suffered a one-sided loss to welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in the UFC 251 main event Saturday, but he believes the result would've been different if he had a longer training camp.

"Gamebred" stepped up to face Usman on less than a week's notice after original headliner Gilbert Burns tested positive for the coronavirus.

"I hate coming up short," Masvidal said at the postfight press conference, according to MMA Fighting. "I'm not gonna make no excuses, he was the better man tonight. There were some areas where I didn't give him enough credit, and there were some areas where I felt with a better training camp, I could definitely surpass him.

"I think I showed a lot of my wrestling on six days' notice, that I'm not too easy to take down or to hold down on the ground. I made a lot of mistakes. I tried to fight in spots, since I didn't feel my gas tank was at the greatest, and he fought in better spots. Right when I had to get loose and started to open up, he was able to clinch me up and take it back in his world."

Masvidal had a strong start to the bout, but Usman found his groove in the last four rounds, bullying the challenger in the clinch and on the ground. Masvidal entered the title fight after three straight wins in 2019, which made him one of the most popular fighters on the roster. He said he's confident he'll eventually earn a rematch against Usman.

"I'll do whatever it takes to get back in front of that man and compete again, and get my hand raised," Masvidal said.

"We'll do it again, man. I just can't wait," he continued. "They'll put an opponent in front of me and I'm gonna take care of business. I'm gonna come back better than ever. I'm not gonna disappear from the sport without this belt being wrapped around my waist."