Jorge Masvidal on Cowboy win: I’ll take the double knockout

Last night, the UFC returned to Denver, Colorado with UFC on Fox 23. With eight exciting stoppages among the 12 fights on the bill, this Denver card was a downright thriller. Perhaps the most thrilling moment of the entire card, however, occurred in the co-main event, where Strikeforce veteran Jorge Masvidal delivered an upset by clubbing Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone to a second-round TKO – precisely the kind of “beat down” he predicted.

While this stoppage was exciting, however, it was not without controversy, as many believe it should have ended at the end of the first round, when Masvidal punched Cowboy to the brink of consciousness right as the bell sounded.

During the event’s post-fight press conference, Masvidal weighed in on this confusing moment, telling a reporter from MMAJunkie.com that he wasn’t particularly bothered by the chaos of it all.

“I wasn’t confused at all,” Masvidal said. “Herb Dean pulled me back. Then I heard the bell. … You can see on TV the bell sounds, and he pulls me right after. I’m not complaining. I’ll take the double knockout. Not a lot of people get those in a night.”

Masvidal then touched on his post-fight interview with commentator Brian Stann, during which he bet UFC President Dana White $200,000 that he couldn’t find a welterweight that could beat him.

“Coming over from Strikeforce, I never got those key matchups like a lot of guys did in my division,” Masvidal said. “It’s taken this long that I’ve been in the UFC for me to get that key matchup. I don’t have time to wait. I got other things to do. I got to get the biggest fights I possibly can. I know $200,000 isn’t much to Dana, but to me, I’m a working man, and $200,000 is a lot. I was trying to tell him there’s nobody you can find that can beat me. I’m so confident I’ll put $200,00 of my own money [on the fight].”

Who do you want to see Jorge Masvidal fight next? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/29/2017.