Jorge Masvidal says Demian Maia turned down fight. The good news? Neil Magny is his huckleberry

UFC President Dana White on Tuesday said after Nick Diaz turned down a rematch with ex-champ Robbie Lawler, he planned to make a fight between Diaz and welterweight contender Demian Maia.

But when Diaz (26-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) turned that down, he went with an alternative: Jorge Masvidal. Now, according to Masvidal (32-11 MMA, 9-4 UFC), Maia (24-6 MMA, 18-6 UFC) has turned that down, leaving his immediate future uncertain.

“People are already turning fights down,” Masvidal, who cut the welterweight title line this past Saturday with an impressive second-round finish of contender-apparent Donald Cerrone, told MMAjunkie Radio. “Demian Maia didn’t want this. They offered him the fight, and he didn’t want it. I guess he wants to sit out. So I want to fight these top-10 dudes. Give me the toughest dudes you’ve got.”

Maia wasn’t immediately reachable for comment. But the Brazilian submission specialist has made no secret of his desire to fight for the title. After Masvidal’s win, he tweeted, “Cerrone deserves nothing but respect. Winning 4 in a row at (welterweight in the UFC) is super hard. I’m proud of winning (six and) want my deserved title shot next!”

Masvidal isn’t particularly bent out of shape over the refusal and welcomed a fight with any other top-tier welterweight. The issue is finding a suitable fit.

The good news is that one might already be present.

Presented with a list of other top-tier welterweights, Masvidal singled out a choice that, on the surface, might not offer the same upside to his career as Maia, who’s No. 5 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings. But there appears to be some ready-made heat, and willingness to fight.

“I’ll tell who you I don’t like, because when I called him out with some respectful (expletive), like, hey, your opponent fell out and I’m ready to fight, he was a coward, saying I didn’t have enough pictures on social media, and who the (expletive) am I,” Masvidal said. “And now, he’s dying to fight me – that little wimp Magny.”

Masvidal said Neil Magny (19-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) turned him down in favor of Lorenz Larkin at UFC 202, and he hasn’t forgotten about the way he was dismissed.

“It’s not that he turned me down – it was the way he said it,” Masvidal said. “Acting like he didn’t know who I was, and now he knows who I am? Get the (expletive) out of here.”

Magny laughed when he heard Masvidal’s take on the situation.

“When my opponent fell out, he was one of the guys that jumped on Twitter right away and was trying to beg for the fight,” he told MMAjunkie. “But I turned it down. I’m not interested in fighting guys who, in my mind, are bums or don’t have a streak behind them. He’s a guy who’s been in the sport for a while. But at the time at welterweight, he didn’t have any accomplishments. The only win he had at welterweight was a guy who fights at 145, (Ross Pearson).

“So it’s not a guy I want to fight. I’m coming off a huge win beating Hector Lombard, and I want to turn around and fight a guy that fights at featherweight? No. For lack of a better word, I thought he was a kind of a b—h. He was finding any way to make a fight, but I was focused on fighting tough opponents.”

Now, things are different.

“He’s definitely piqued my interest now,” Magny said. “He’s beaten two guys in the top 15 and one guy in the top five. He has some skills, and I think it would be a good matchup for me at this point.”

If the UFC can’t find another opponent, Masvidal said, he’ll make a stop on his “easy money” tour for his rival, who sits one rank below him at No. 10. When Magny responded to Masvidal’s post-win bet of $200,000 to find a worthy opponent, Masvidal wasn’t impressed.

“Talking all that (expletive) on social media like he even has $400,000 to put up,” Masvidal said. “You ain’t got no (expletive) money, you bum. I don’t like that dude. You guys have never heard me talk like that before, not even about ‘Cowboy.’ I just don’t like that dude.

“So if (UFC matchmaker) Sean Shelby wanted to see that dude executed, they would green light his ass. Magny might talk (expletive) on social media, but he probably won’t even take the fight. He knows I’ll break his face.”

Magny, however, said he plans to call Shelby to make the fight.

“After he posted that statement that he’ll fight anyone and double-up and put $200,000, I responded right away,” he said. “That’s a fight I’ll gladly take. Since then, he’s had no response directly to me. Every welterweight he calls out runs the other way. I’ll come out and say it. It’s a fight that I won’t run away from.”

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