Popular fighter Jorge Masvidal has decided to cut his retirement short, but he’s remaining tight-lipped about the speculation surrounding a potential matchup with Nate Diaz in his return to the octagon.
“I can’t deny or confirm any rumors right now, but someone is getting merked early, early, early this year. I can’t say the date or nothing, but I’ve been busting my ass,” Jorge Masvidal told TMZ.
MMA journalist Ariel Helwani reported that a boxing match between Masvidal and Diaz “is in fact in the works for later this year,” although Diaz’s representative has not confirmed the news.
“If it was in the streets, that dude [Nate Diaz] would say hell no. He knows what happens in the streets,” Masvidal said. “In an MMA ring, he already knows what happens. Maybe he would say yes to boxing. I don’t know, you gotta ask that dude.”
The two fighters previously clashed in November 2019 in the inaugural UFC BMF championship fight, with Masvidal securing a TKO victory due to a doctor stoppage after the third round.
Masvidal announced his retirement from the UFC in April 2023 following his loss to Gilbert Burns in his hometown of Miami. Diaz also left the UFC in 2022 after completing his contract.
While Masvidal has shifted to a promoter role under his Gamebred banner, it appears he’s eager to step back into the ring. Diaz’s most recent bout was against Jake Paul in a boxing match in August, where he lost by unanimous decision. Masvidal expressed confidence that he would replicate the success against Diaz if they were to meet again.
“[Nate] already got his ass kicked in MMA. He don’t want it there. He didn’t want it there the whole time we were in the UFC. Maybe he will want it in boxing. You know he’s been with top-notch boxers his whole life, training with them,” Masvidal said. “But I got this big belief that you can live inside a garage but it don’t make you a car. Know what I’m saying? I’ve trained with world-class boxers my whole life, and that’s my base. I trained with some of best Cuban boxers growing up, to come out of Cuba since I was a child. I’d f–king whoop his ass!”
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