Jorge Masvidal had himself a 2019 to remember, knocking out Ben Askren in five seconds at UFC 235 (see it), before defeating Nate Diaz at UFC 244 to win the one-of-one “BMF” title.
With victories like that — as well as his knockout of Darren Till in late 2018 — “Gamebred” has assured himself nothing but big bouts moving forward. Indeed, Masvidal has several options at his disposal, which include a Welterweight title fight against Kamaru Usman (details), a money fight against Conor McGregor, and even a rematch against Nate Diaz.
But another fight that could happen is one against Nick Diaz. The two men had exchanged some verbal jabs last year, leading many to believe the showdown was on the horizon. Months later, that fight is still in the running, as Masvidal revealed he just recently had a very good conversation with Nick’s manager about the showdown.
“Out of pure coincidence and luck, I just spoke with Nick Diaz’s manager. And it was interesting with a lot of different insight because UFC is saying one thing and it’s completely different from what we were hearing,” Masvidal said during a recent chat with Ariel Helwani.
“To hear it now from Nick Diaz’s manager, things make a lot more sense now. UFC was telling us all kinds of crazy things and, I’m not willing to wait for no man. They were telling me this, and that and this ... we got options,” he said, while saying exact details of the conversation couldn’t be revealed at the moment.
For Masvidal, getting paid is priority number one, and since he has plenty of options, he has interest in all of them for different reasons.
“Who is going to get me that nice chunk of change that someone like me that has been fighting 16 years professional and busting ass? If it’s up to me, I respect Nick, him and his brother, I got a lot of respect for Conor for what he’s done inside the cage. But Usman, I don’t like his ass one bit. I just want to fuck his ass up. He’s just a punk, the same guy that five or six years ago was asking me to take pictures.”
Usman and Masvidal were recently involved in a minor altercation in Miami during Super Bowl media day (see it here). That said, no “three pieces and a soda” were handed out this time around, but “Gamebred” knows their paths will cross again inside the Octagon soon enough.
As for the elder Diaz, he hasn’t competed in five years. But by the sound of it, the Stockton slugger could be preparing for a comeback.
Get the latest gear
