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Earlier this month, Nate Diaz dropped his ‘BMF’ title fight against Jorge Masvidal in a third-round TKO due to two cuts above and below his left eye.
During an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto shortly after the UFC 244 fight, Diaz voiced his frustration with the match ending early.
“I’m pissed off they stopped it; I don’t know, that’s just the name of the game. It’s wack.”
Was Diaz Concerned Damage to Eye Would Threaten Outcome of the Fight?
Following the fight, Diaz was asked whether or not he thought the eye injury would threaten the outcome. He didn’t view that as an issue at all, though.
“Naw, I thought it was the same story as every other fight. I have been cut in the same eye during my last five fights. Probably ten, fights” Diaz said.
Nate’s brother, Nick Diaz had the same issue a couple of years ago with KJ Noons.
And speaking of Nick, he dropped a couple of headlining stories earlier this month, one of them stating that he wants to return to the octagon in 2020, and the other being that he would like to face Jorge Masvidal at AT&T Stadium. Diaz’s manager Kevin Mubenga revealed to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that they want the bout against Masvidal to be in the spring of 2020.
“You know, it’s on you Dana,” Diaz told Helwani, in reference to UFC president Dana White. “It’s on you, UFC–that’s on them. It’s in your hands now. Cowboys Stadium.”
Earlier this week, I spoke with Mubenga and he shared that Nick Diaz is already training for his next fight in late April or on May 5th.
“Nick has already begun training for the Jorge Masvidal fight. He intends on fighting in late April or May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, in Arlington, Texas at AT&T Stadium,” said Mubenga.
“Not only does he believe he will break the UFC live gate record, but he is also very confident that he will break the boxing attendance record set by Canelo Alvarez vs. Liam Smith [51,420]”.
Nick’s Ex-Coach Cesar Gracie Thinks He Would Beat Jorge Masvidal
Cesar Gracie was recently interviewed by Ariel Helwani on his MMA show and shared that a matchup against Jorge Masvidal would be the perfect bout for Nick Diaz. It is an opportunity for him to introduce himself to this generation of UFC fans.
Nick Diaz last fought against Anderson Silva at UFC 183, which is almost five years ago. Diaz would lose a unanimous decision to Silva, but it was later overturned due to Silva testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Diaz also tested positive for marijuana and was suspended for 18 months.
“That is his belt. The BMF belt, Nick is the BMF, if you will. That’s the perfect belt for Nick,” Gracie said during a recent interview on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. ”The hype on something like that would be so huge to fight a guy like that. You got to get fighters that are doing something now.”
“The Masvidal fight with Nate, I watched it and I thought, ‘okay, this guy has really good hands.’ He is a tough fighter,” Gracie added. “But I think Nick at his best, I don’t know how he would do, he’d have to be in shape. But the Nick Diaz I’ve seen at his best or anywhere near it, he crushes guys like that.
“I think it would be great for the fans who don’t know who Nick Diaz is. And let’s face it, there are a lot of new fans in the sport and Nick has been out for a long time the fans who don’t know who Nick Diaz is, that would be a great showcase for him to come back.”
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Nick Diaz Already Training for Jorge Masvidal Bout, Says Manager