Dana White may have just upset a former champion. Jorge Masvidal, who reigned as the inaugural UFC BMF champion, has envisioned a bout against Conor McGregor to make his return in the leading MMA promotion. While he was hopeful, White’s assertive statement about Masvidal’s return will likely disappoint him.

“We have no fights for him right now,” said White during the UFC 327 post-fight press conference. “We have nothing done with him. He’s talking to us.”

For those unaware, Jorge Masvidal opted for MMA retirement after a four-fight losing streak in the UFC. Although he ventured into professional boxing, Masvidal had an arrangement with the UFC and is still under a contract. Because of this contractual arrangement, the inaugural BMF champion has been teasing a comeback for the past few months.

To that end, Masvidal also had several preferred opponents for his return, including Conor McGregor. But there must be a reason behind this pursuit, right? Notably, ‘The Notorious’ has been away from the Octagon for around five years now. His UFC 264 fight against Dustin Poirier was his last appearance inside an Octagon.

However, since late 2025, even McGregor has teased his comeback. While the return timeline matches, Masvidal has always kept the door to fighting the Irishman open. And one particular factor driving that desire was the massive payday behind a McGregor fight.

For those unaware, ‘The Notorious’ has headlined the highest pay-per-view (PPV) selling event in UFC history, where he fought Khabib Nurmagomedov. As per reports, the event sold around 2.4 million PPVs. So, possibly, that could have been a factor here, but Dana White has snubbed Masvidal of a fight against McGregor for his return till now, putting the ex-BMF champ in limbo.

But this development also builds an interesting theory about UFC’s potential strategy to keep him away from other promotions.

Jorge Masvidal snubbed Jake Paul-led MVP’s offer

Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) has ventured into MMA. In collaboration with Netflix, their first event will go down on May 16, featuring Ronda Rousey, Francis Ngannou, and Nate Diaz, among others. And amid this stacked card featuring former UFC fighters, Jorge Masvidal also received an offer.

While Diaz will now fight Mike Perry on the MVP x Netflix MMA card, it was Masvidal who first crossed the promoter’s mind for ‘The Stockton Slugger’. However, the former UFC BMF champion had his mind clear, eyeing an MMA return in Dana White’s promotion.

“I got offered to fight on this card,” said Masvidal on the Death Row MMA podcast. “I had a very good, nice offer from Netflix. But UFC had other plans for me… I was talking to [MVP co-founder] Nakisa [Bidarian]. I get along very well with Nakisa and got nothing but love for him for even thinking of me and calling me up. It just didn’t work out.

I had the first offer before they gave it to Nate [Diaz]; it was me, and I desperately wanted to take the fight.”

Although ‘Gamebred’ is eager to make his comeback, the UFC has yet to announce any details about it. With MVP trying to get big names under their banner, they were unsuccessful in getting the former UFC BMF champion on their show.

Following Dana White‘s latest statement, one might wonder: Did the UFC strategically block Masvidal’s transition to the MVP? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!