ANAHEIM, Calif. – As Nate Diaz and company blasted a Bay Area rap classic, Dru Down’s “Pimp of the Year,” to celebrate their victory, deep inside the Honda Center, Jorge Masvidal took to the podium with a solemn expression.
Conclusion: He thought he won.
Unfortunately for Masvidal, two of the three judges could not agree on anything and awarded Diaz the victory by majority decision (95-95, 97-93, 98-92) in a thrilling boxing match played in front of a crowd of 18,040, almost all of them Diaz fans, on Saturday night.
“I'm sure the referee was influenced by the crowd,” Masvidal told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during the post-fight press conference. “A lot of those punches were hitting the corners. I just had to get the timing right. I hit three or four and missed, then I hit some good power shots. I could see I was hurting him, I was backing him up, I could see him starting to mess around. I hit a lot of body damage. I think one of the referees only gave me two rounds, which is just not right.”
The story of the 10-round bout was one of volume vs. power, with Diaz throwing the most punches and Masvidal landing the hardest, but ultimately falling short.
“From what I saw, I hurt him a lot more than he hurt me,” Masvidal said. “I was a lot cleaner, especially with my strikes to the body. He didn't do anything to my body. I definitely hurt his body. I hurt him a few times and he backed off. He pressed a lot and came forward but he didn't hurt me. I don't think he landed a meaningful punch. Eight rounds versus two is pretty crazy.”
Jorge Masvidal punches Nate Diaz during a boxing match at the Honda Center. (Ester Lin/Fanmio)
For Diaz, the result was a kind of revenge for his loss to Masvidal in his first BMF title fight at UFC 244 in November 2019. However, that bout ended with a doctor stopping the fight in the third round due to a cut under Diaz's eye. Their boxing match ended by majority decision rather than a more decisive ending, so there may be a reason for a trilogy.
If Masvidal is willing, he and Diaz could fight again in boxing.
“Definitely boxing. Call me competitive, but I want to box,” Masvidal said. “If he wants to do mixed martial arts after that, he can. But I definitely want to do boxing more than anything. I want to do it again.”
Masvidal, who came out of retirement 15 months later for the Diaz rematch, said he still has two fights left on his contract with UFC and two more fights remaining with Juan Mio, who promoted the Diaz rematch, and is eager to fight again, Diaz rematch or not.
“I love to compete and now I'm just looking for my next competition,” Masvidal said. “I'm a dog. I'm an outdoorsy dog. I don't like being put in a cage or a kennel. So I'm just going to get back to work, get in shape and off I go.”
For more details on the match, check out MMA Junkie's Diaz vs. Masvidal 2 event hub.
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