“If you fight Black people…” Jorge Masvidal has to follow CRAZY superstitions of head coach

Jorge Masvidal talks his relationship with his coach Paulino Hernandez and his superstitions.

“If you fight Black people…” Jorge Masvidal has to follow CRAZY superstitions of head coach

Paulino Hernandez with Jorge Masvidal at American Top Team

Jorge Masvidal has racked up a total of 35 in 51 fights throughout his career. He has done a million-plus PPV sales in UFC more than once and is set to return at UFC 287. With so many wins under his wing, Jorge has his Gym and his Coaches to thank for. However, while his coaches take care of his technical approach to the fight, they also deal with the not-so-technical approach.

Jorge Masvidal has been with the American Top Team since early 2007. Masvidal had over a decade’s worth of training and a relationship with his coaches in the ATT. While training with them for so long, Jorge got familiar with his Coach Paulino Fernandez’s weird superstitious beliefs. In his appearance on ‘The Church of What’s Happening Now ‘ with Joey Diaz, Jorge talks about these beliefs.

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According to Jorge, Paulino, his head coach is one of the most superstitious people he ever met. Paulino always has something yellow-colored on him when he’s in Jorge’s corner. When he didn’t have his yellow everyone from the corner would have to find something. Reebok however had an issue with it and wouldn’t let Paulino wear his yellow cap. So Paulino and the team went crazy searching for something yellow.

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This is not all, as Jorge Masvidal talks about how Hernandez knows how every guy fights based on his nationality, color, and where he stays .” If you’re fighting a Russian guy you don’t hit them on the chin, you hit them on the body“, said Jorge. “If you fight black people you have to chop them in the legs cuz they’re fast“, added Gamebred. This just goes to show how funny and experienced Hernandez is. Masvidal is set to lock horns with burns at UFC 287 and depending on the outcome will decide if he retires or not.

Related: Was Jorge Masvidal ever in prison?

Jorge Masvidal and his time at the American Top Team

Is Jorge Masvidal a bigger draw

With over 10 years in the Octagon, Jorge Masvidal has racked up a record of 35-16 -0 in the UFC. Jorge Masvidal is all set to make his octagon return against Gilbert Burns on 8th April at UFC 287. The ride for Gamebred has not always been smooth throughout his UFC career. He had his best year in 2019. He knocked out Darren Till in the O2 arena, Ben Askren with a flying knee, and won the BMF title against fan favorite Nate Diaz. His coaches had a huge role to play in his success and have been with him since the start.

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Jorge Masvidal started from the streets with his brawl in Kimbo Slice’s backyard. He later joined American Top in early 2007 for his MMA career. Jorge Masvidal has stayed loyal to the ATT and still trains there for his fights. While the institution he trains at is the same Jorge Masvidal changes his head coaches change according to fights.

Paulino Hernandez was Jorge’s head coach for a long time. Paulino Hernandez is a  coach at an American top team.  He was part of Cuba’s national taekwondo team in the year 1990. Under Paulino, Jorge won many fights and Paulino was the head coach during Jorge’s fight with Colby Covington. The next head Coach is Mike Brown who played role in Jorge’s “resurrection” and his rise to fame. Mike won Coach of the Year Award in 2016 and is the coach to Dustin Poirier as well. Mike Brown is Jorge Masvidal’s head coach going into his fight against Gilbert Burns at UFC 287.

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