Let the games begin.

On Saturday night, Conor McGregor knocked out Donald Cerrone at UFC 246, reasserting himself as a going concern in the UFC. The win set McGregor up for a number of other potential bouts, including a lightweight title shot against the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, or a return to boxing for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather. But the most likely fight might be a battle with Jorge Masvidal who rose to stardom last year with a trio of impressive wins, including claiming the inaugural “BMF” title belt. Except there’s only one problem: Masvidal is no longer interested.

Masvidal was sitting cageside for UFC 246, sporting an outfit McGregor himself wore ahead of his boxing match with Mayweather. The move may have backfired on Masvidal though as in the post-fight press conference, McGregor seemed much less interested in facing Masvidal than he had previously seemed. Well that’s no skin off the BMF champion’s nose, as Masvidal told Ariel Helwani yesterday that he’s moving on from a potential Conor fight.

“He don’t want the fight so I don’t give a f*ck no more,” Masvidal said. “I’m moving on from that fight. This dude didn’t want the fight. I’m not here to bully. I guess it’s Usman’s head. He sealed Usman’s fate now.”

Now to be clear, McGregor did not say he no longer wanted to fight Masvidal. In fact, McGregor still said he’d be willing to fight “Gamebred” but it was clear his enthusiasm for the bout had waned, following UFC 246. However, Masvidal’s management team has suggested an interim welterweight title fight between the two while current champion Kamaru Usman heals up. That kind of carrot could be what it takes to entice McGregor and if that’s the case, Masvidal says he’s for it, though at this point he’s still leaning towards a genuine welterweight title shot.

“That’d be good too, if Conor wanted to do that,” Masvidal said. “One of these two guys is gonna have to scrap with me. I’m leaning right now towards Usman, the way he’s been talking, the sh*t he’s been saying, but if Conor wants it, we’ll get it done. It won’t be hard to get it done but I’m not going to sit here and entertain bullsh*t and stuff, you know? I just want to scrap.”

Of course, competing against McGregor would have its own benefits, namely on the monetary side. But Masvidal says that, all things being equal, he’d rather fight Usman because he has a personal dislike for the welterweight champion.

“I make a considerably larger paycheck with Conor but if it’s on the personal side, if it’s all potatoes and tomatoes being the same, I would take a lot more pleasure in dismantling Usman’s face than I would Conor’s,” Masvidal explained. “I would have a sincere joy inside of me like a kid on Christmas opening numerous gifts if Usman was the dude that I got to baptize.

“There is something about his face. I don’t like it, it doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t like his attitude either. These little comments of ‘who?’ I have been doing this 16 f*cking years. I’m the fighter of the year, and I’m at your f*cking weight class and you’re going to be as corny and a petty-ass troll and say ‘who?’

“The dude ain’t go no personality. He has 17 different f*cking personalities but not one of them is made for TV. So I want to f*ck his ass up.”

Unfortunately for Masvidal, after Usman won his welterweight title defense against Colby Covington at UFC 245, “The Nigerian Nightmare” began singing a similar tune to McGregor, showing less interest in a Masvidal matchup and calling out Leon Edwards as the guy he thinks is most deserving of a 170 pound title shot. That has only added to Masvidal’s desire to beat Usman.

“There’s a ranking system and I’m ranked in the system,” Masvidal said. “He wants to fight the guy that’s ranked below me that he already beat. He says that’s the tougher fight. He sounds like one hell of a politician to me. And I don’t like politicians.”

Also unfortunately for Masvidal, Usman is currently sidelined with a hand injury so he may be stuck waiting for awhile anyway. But when he does finally get his welterweight shot, he didn’t mince his words.

“Usman, you punk motherf*cker,” Masvidal said. “Look me in my eyes Usman when you see this interview and know that nothing but the truth comes from me. You’re f*cking dead.”

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MUST-READ STORIES

Praise. Dana White praises Conor McGregor’s “unbelievable” UFC 246 performance.

Slow down. Dana White: Paulo Costa ‘needs to pump the brakes and slow down,’ wait for Adesanya vs. Romero.

Ouch. Maycee Barber suffers torn ACL during loss to Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 246.

$$$. Conor McGregor, ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Holly Holm lead final salaries for UFC 246.

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VIDEO STEW

UFC 246 Coffee Talk.

Top ESPN+ moments for the UFC, one year in.

LFA 80 highlights.

Felice Herrig telling a story about getting into a street fight in Vegas.

Cowboy getting worked by Marky Mark in the trailer for his new movie.

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LISTEN UP

The Co-Main Event. Discussing UFC 246 and the fallout from it.

Anik & Florian. Recapping UFC 246 and previewing UFC Raleigh.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

This is the real fight to make.

Kamaru Usman.

Statement.

Askren on Maycee’s loss.

Respect.

Johnny Walker at TriStar.

For my money, Boss Logic’s best poster by far.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Alex da Silva (21-2) vs. Tristan Connelly (14-6); UFC, April 11.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let him know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram, add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting, and like us on Facebook.