Jorge Masvidal HAS made weight for his welterweight title fight against Kamaru Usman at UFC 251.Fight fans around the world did a collective double-take and fist pump when it was announced that 'Gamebred' was going to be Gilbert Burns' replacement for the card on 'Fight Island'.Masvidal enjoyed a fairytale 2019 with a stunning knockout over Darren Till, the fastest stoppage in UFC history over Ben Askren and defeating Nate Diaz in a stellar pay-per-view event.
Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal
However, receiving the 'BMF' belt from Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was clearly not enough and now Masvidal is just hours away from challenging for the top prize in his division.
But coming into today's UAE-based weigh-in, the question on everybody's lips was: would Masvidal make weight after taking the fight at such late notice?
Besides, Masvidal had left the MMA fanbase biting their finger nails after revealing that he needed to lose just short of one and a half stone in less than a week.
Losing 20 pounds in six days
"Yeah, I got 20 pounds to go. I'm taking the fight on 6 days notice," he said to ESPN First Take. "When they made the fight official I weighed 191 pounds but I can lose that weight.
"I've been doing this a long time, it won't be the first time I have to cut a crazy amount of weight at short notice, and like I've always said God has my back so I've got no worries."
Bearing that in mind, it's incredible that Masvidal was able to step on to the scales on Friday with a pre-fight weight of 170 pounds, which is the same as his Nigerian opponent.
The insane lengths that UFC fighter go to in order to cut weight has been well documented and Masvidal was clearly doing everything in his power to make sure the event would go ahead.
Images showed the American lying on tinfoil with his entire body covered in towels under what we can only assume was searing Arabic heat.
Masvidal's supreme physique
Even then, Masvidal needed to strip naked - with his modesty protected by a towel - in order to make sure he dipped under the welterweight limit.
So, after all that body-breaking work, you've got to credit Masvidal for looking in such incredible shape and you can check out his impressive physique in the video below:
Can Masvidal take the title?
Rather you than me, Jorge.
But while it might be commendable that Masvidal has gone to such insane lengths for his shot at the title, there's no doubt that he's at a massive disadvantage when it comes to fighting Usman.
For all of the impressive moments he showed in 2019, Masvidal is always going to be struggling on six days notice against a man who's been able to train through a full camp.
Combine that with the fact Usman is unbeaten in his UFC career and his sole professional defeat came seven years ago, it's no wonder that the Nigerian is being tipped to defend his title.
That being said, it doesn't make us any less excited for a blockbuster bout that we're just so, so happy to see Masvidal involved in. We can't wait.