Jorge Masvidal argues fighters have a right to ‘defend themselves’ in the streets

Jorge Masvidal is continuing to throw his support behind Nate Diaz after the Stockton, Calif.,-bred scrapper was arrested over a street fight in New Orleans, La., that saw him choke a Logan Paul look-a-like unconscious (watch it).

There’s been significant controversy surrounding the incident because the Paul impersonator (real name Rodney Peterson) approached Diaz with his hands in the air. That being said, he did it as a massive bar brawl spilled out into the streets, and he backed up Diaz against a wall.

In Masvidal’s mind, it’s clear who’s in the right.

“When it’s you against somebody you have no idea if he’s got a knife in his pocket, if he’s gonna f—ing pepper spray you then kick you in the nuts,” Masvidal said in an interview with TMZ Sports. “Obviously, this guy’s not in the right mind if he’s attacking a pro fighter. I just don’t like it that people think because we’re pro fighters that we’re not able to defend ourselves.

“No, we have to defend ourselves,” he declared. “It’s a cold world out there.”

Masvidal may have a skewed idea of what constitutes reasonable behavior in the streets. “Gamebred” started out his career in Kimbo Slice’s illegal Miami, Fla., backyard fight videos, and has gotten into his fair share of grey area tussles outside of the cage. In March 2022, he was arrested and charged with aggravated battery after allegedly showing up at a South Florida steakhouse and sucker punching his rival, Colby Covington.

According to Masvidal, that whole situation was a case of “mutual combat,” which is a legitimate thing in Florida. Whether it applies to what happened between “Gamebred” and “Chaos” is up to the Florida court system to decide. Until then, Masvidal is just enjoying retirement and his growing role as a fight promoter.

One week before his final UFC fight, Masvidal held Gamebred Boxing 4, featuring Anthony Pettis vs. Roy Jones Jr., amongst several other interesting bouts with MMA angles. On May 5, 2023, Gamebred Bareknuckle will feature a night of bareknuckle MMA headlined by Roy Nelson vs. Dillon Cleckler in Sunrise, Florida.

“I would definitely like to get a boxing match in there, I’m not ruling that out,” he said about his future plans. “But as of right now I’m just focusing on promoting. Promote, promote, promote, put on the best fights possible, get people to forget about their whole weeks during that 2-hour span of just good fights back-to-back and they get to relax and take the stress of the day off.”

For more bareknuckle news, results and highlights, click here.