Jorge Masvidal has expressed frustration with Nate Diaz over difficulties in negotiating their upcoming 10-round boxing match, including Diaz’s refusal to fight in certain locations, insistence on being billed first, and decision to schedule the fight on the same day as a major UFC event.
Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz have a bit of a beef. They’re set to duke it out in a 10-round boxing match at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on June 1. The fight’s been in the works for a while, but it only got official in March. Masvidal says it’s all because Diaz was a pain to negotiate with.
Masvidal shares an example. “At one point, because Vegas was booked out, a lot of places were booked out, New York was a strong possibility and he was like, ‘I won’t fight if it’s in New York. I won’t fight.’ I was like, what the f***?” Masvidal said Monday on The MMA Hour. “What’s the beef? This is boxing. That was in MMA [where] you got your ass whooped. But I get it. Alright.”
Then, Diaz threw another curveball. He said he wouldn’t fight if the fight’s in Miami. He also had a bad experience with his boxing match in Texas, so he refused to fight there too. Masvidal was just trying to get the fight organized, but Diaz’s demands made it difficult.
But that’s not all. Masvidal and Diaz first fought each other for the inaugural “BMF” title fight at UFC 244 in 2019. Masvidal won by doctor stoppage at the end of the third round. But despite his victory, Masvidal says Diaz is demanding A-side treatment from the promotion.
“Then other things that keep dropping in the press that are all on the contract side,” Masvidal explained. “Like, it’s ‘Nate Diaz-Masvidal.’ Well, I damn nearly killed you, so that means I’m supposed to get these little privileges. It’s supposed to say Masvidal [first]. But instead of trying to negotiate, he’s like, ‘I’m not fighting if it’s not like that.’ So the promoter is getting back to me, telling me, ‘There’s no budging there. He’s just not going to fight. He says he’ll just move on and go fight somebody else.’ Bro, do you want to fight? I’ve got numerous other [examples of] motives not to fight. So it just makes me question, maybe he don’t want this heat, bro.
Masvidal agreed to Diaz’s terms because he “wants to f****** beat his ass” and Diaz’s demands are pretty minor. But one thing really did bother Masvidal: The date. Diaz vs. Masvidal takes place on the same day as UFC 302, headlined by a lightweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier. Masvidal believes counter-programming the UFC with a pay-per-view event is not the best idea, and given what he and Diaz both stand to make as part of the promotion, this is the point that angered Masvidal the most.
Masvidal promises that extra energy is going to show itself in the ring. Because while Diaz may have been demure at their first press conference on Friday, he’s not going to have that option come June.
“I felt like he didn’t want to be there,” Masvidal said. “And I get it, maybe he had weed to smoke and f****** vegan plates to eat or something. But his energy, the way I was reading, was like he didn’t want to be there.
“He knows one thing — whether I’m in shape or not, I’m coming to fight. If you pull that s*** you pulled out with [Jake Paul], you show up like that to our fight, you know what’s going to happen — and it’s going to happen rather quick, because I’m going to put the pressure on you right away. I’m not going to let you slide for 10 rounds coming in off the couch like that. That’s not the same Nate Diaz we’re accustomed to in the UFC. I don’t think he took Jake seriously at all. So I hope he’s been preparing and getting himself ready for war, because he knows that’s just the way I roll, the way I scrap. I’m trying to kill your ass.”