Just eight months after declaring his retirement at UFC 287, Jorge Masvidal posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday that he was "unretired."
The two-time UFC welterweight title challenger provided no further details beyond his succinct message, and he did not immediately respond to a request for additional comments from MMA Fighting.
In October 2023, Masvidal expressed his intention to return to competition in boxing after two decades in MMA.
"No names right now, but I can tell you it’s early next year, and I can tell you somebody is going to get killed," Masvidal stated in an interview with ESPN.com.
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship's (BKFC) Mike Perry recently expressed interest in a bare-knuckle fight against Masvidal, although the latter indicated a preference for gloved combat due to his extensive career in combat sports.
Masvidal retired in April following a one-sided decision loss to Gilbert Burns, marking his fourth consecutive setback in the octagon since an unsuccessful bid for the UFC welterweight title against then-champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 251. He faced Usman again nine months later with a full training camp and suffered a brutal knockout at UFC 261.
After his retirement, Masvidal shifted his focus to promotion, serving as the figurehead for a bare-knuckle MMA promotion named "Gamebred."
In November of the same year, the promotion hosted its sixth event featuring UFC veterans Alan Belcher and Roy Nelson in the main event.
During an appearance in April on The MMA Hour, Masvidal did not entirely rule out a return to fighting but mentioned that it would take "something crazy" to lure him back into competition, and he would need the UFC's permission.
It remains uncertain if Masvidal's announcement implies that the MMA organisation has given approval for his return.
Before his four-fight skid, Masvidal gained stardom with three notable victories — a knockout of Darren Till, a record-setting flying knee knockout of Ben Askren, and a TKO stoppage of Nate Diaz to claim the inaugural "BMF" belt.
