Jorge Masvidal is having some issues with Nate Diaz.
On June 1, Masvidal and Diaz will face each other in a 10-round boxing match at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. The fight had been rumored for a while, but it wasn't made official until March, and Masvidal said much of that was due to difficult negotiations with Diaz.
“At one point, Las Vegas was full, a lot of places were full, so New York was likely, and he said, 'I won't fight in New York.' I won't fight.' I said, 'What? That's what I thought. Masvidal said Monday. MMA hour. “What's the beef? This is boxing. It was MMA [where] You yelled your ass off. But I understand. Are you okay.
“Then I had another diva moment. He said if the fight was in Miami, he wouldn't fight either. “If it was Miami, I wouldn't fight.'' Yeah, great. “Well, I had a bad experience with my last boxing match in Texas, so I'm not going to fight in Texas.” What?! To book a venue of that size, you have to book for a week or a weekend. Not that you can. It happens a few months ago. … So there's all these issues and it's like, dude, I'm just trying to have a fucking fight. what are you trying to do? April could have been a different location, but this guy wasn't trying to do that and it felt very diva-ish. ”
But that's not the only problem Masvidal has with Diaz.
The two originally met in the inaugural “BMF” title fight at UFC 244 in 2019, with Masvidal winning via doctor's stoppage at the end of the third round. However, Masvidal said that despite the win, Diaz is demanding that the promoted side be treated as A-side.
“Everything else that continues to be reported in the press after that is on the contract side,” Masvidal explained. “Like, 'Nate Diaz Masvidal.' Well, I almost killed you, so I mean, I'm supposed to be given these little privileges. Masvidal.” I should say [first]. But instead of trying to negotiate, he's like, “If not, he won't fight.” So the promoter got back to me and said, “We're not going to budge there.'' He just doesn't want to fight. He's saying he's just going to move on and go fight someone else. ” Brother, do you want to fight?I have many others [examples of] Motivation not to fight. So I wondered, maybe he doesn't want this heat, brother.
“First I wanted his name, second I wanted a walkover, and last at the weigh-in that I have to weigh in,” Masvidal continued. “Brother, you didn't win the last fight. What are you talking about? A lot of me was like, 'Eh, that's it.' I was pushing Miami really hard because the fight was likely going to be in Miami – of course I had a great run in the UFC – and Nate was like, “I'm not going to fight in Miami.” I'm not going to fight in Miami. ” And do I have to go first? Is this guy r******? What would you do if you were the last person to go out in my city? I'm not going to be the first to go out of my city against you guys. I've already cleared you. So these things make me question his fucking motives. Do you want to scrap or what are you going to do, brother? ”
Ultimately, Masvidal said he agreed to Diaz's terms because he “wanted to punch that guy,” and that Diaz's demands were fairly trivial. But there was one thing that really bothered Masvidal. That's the date.
Diaz vs. Masvidal will take place on the same day as UFC 302, headlined by the lightweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier. Masvidal believes that competing against the UFC on pay-per-view events is not the best idea, and given what he and Diaz claim to be part of the promotion, this is what makes Masvidal the most This is what made me angry.
“Even with this date, if the UFC announced June 1st, they could have pushed it back a week,” Masvidal said. “And I was going to the monument [Day] It was the weekend, the weekend before, and he was like, “No, I already announced on Instagram that I'm going to fight on this date.” I don't care about the UFC, we're going to go head-to-head with the UFC. ” That's not good business. I am he af ****** promoter, he claims he is the promoter. That's not good business. Nothing that weekend, we can take over that weekend.
“I'm trying to sell pay-per-view. I've finally created something great for myself where I can fully enjoy the pay-per-view style of boxing. I have great guarantees, but… The backend can be far more than warranted, so why not join when there's absolutely nothing? But this guy is like, “I'm not hired by the UFC, I don't say anything about the UFC.'' , we're like, “We're going to go head-to-head with them.'' This is stupid to me. This is bad business. For these reasons, I'm a little fired up. Because you're fooling around on my pocket. I don't want to fight against the UFC. ”
Masvidal promises more energy in the ring. Because while Diaz may have been subdued in his first press conference on Friday, that option won't be available in June.
“It felt like he didn't want to be there,” Masvidal said. “I get that, maybe he was smoking marijuana or eating vegan food or something. But his energy when I was reading was like he didn't want to be there. It was something.
“He knows one thing – no matter how well I'm doing, I'm here to fight. If you pull that shit you pulled out. [Jake Paul], you show up like that in our fight, you know what's going to happen — and it's going to happen pretty quickly, because I'm going to put the pressure on you right away. I'm not going to let you slide for 10 rounds as you come off the couch like that. That's not the Nate Diaz we're used to seeing in the UFC. I don't think he took Jake seriously at all. So I hope he's geared up for war. Because he knows that's how I do it, a waste of money. I'm about to kill your ass. ”
