JORGE Masvidal claimed “diva” and “coward” Conor McGregor would be “playing with his life” by accepting a fight against him.
The two were once linked with what had the potential to be a blockbuster UFC pay-per-view grudge match.
But Masvidal, 39, insists McGregor, 35, would not take the fight back then and will not do so now.
He told SunSport: “This fight has the potential to break all types of pay-per-view records and be massive.
“But Conor wouldn’t accept this fight before he got extra bitch mode and extra diva mode.”
McGregor was due to return in a 170-pound welterweight bout against Michael Chandler, 38, at UFC 303.
It would have been his first bout for three years, last fighting in 2021 against Masvidal’s training partner Dustin Poirier, 35.
But McGregor – for the first time in his UFC career – was forced to withdraw after suffering a toe injury.
“He’s pulled out how many times out of his fight?” Masvidal asked.
“How many times has this fight been rescheduled for one reason or another?
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“This is not the first time that this fight falls apart, I think it’s the second or third time.
“So that’s the guy that he’s convinced that he could beat. You can’t get him the ring.
“For a guy like me that he actually has legitimate fear deep down inside for, for my style, for the way that I fight, what I’ve done to Nate (Diaz), what I’ve done to opponents that he has fought as well but it didn’t go exactly his way.
“He knows that I’ve got something special and that’s that f**king power and he knows that I’m gonna beat the f**k out of him standing up.
“It’s gonna destroy his brand. I’m not gonna take him down and hold him down and he’s gonna be able to be like, ‘Oh if it would have been a stand up match….’
“No, no, no, I’m gonna come right, get right in your face, put the pressure on you and break you and make you quit, similar how DP did your ass and he doesn’t need that for his ass again and his brand.
“That’s why you’ll see he never mentions my name or anything like that though.
“We’re the biggest fight they could possibly made because he knows it’s just a bad day for him in the office.”
Masvidal now returns on Saturday to rematch Diaz, 39, in the boxing ring, five years on from his stoppage win in the UFC.
Meanwhile, McGregor looks to reschedule his anticipated return as Masvidal fired one more brutal dig.
He said: “Would I want that fight? Yeah, I wouldn’t mind, I just wouldn’t hold my breath on it.
“Because this coward, if they can’t even get him to fight Chandler with a f**king fractured pinky nail you think he’s gonna f**king fight me? Not a chance.
“And he’s convinced he could beat Chandler, he knows, he knows if he gets in there with me, man, he’s playing with his fucking life, you know.”
