Jorge Masvidal wanted to make sure all eyes were on his boxing match with Nate Diaz.
Masvidal originally was scheduled to box Diaz on June 1 at Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. – the same date as UFC 302 and Dmitrii Bivol’s headliner against Malik Zinad in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Putting his promoter hat on, Masvidal thought it would be best to rebook their fight in order to avoid multiple conflicts in the combat sports world. Their 10-round, 175-pound boxing match now takes place July 6 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
“You don’t want to go up against other dates and other fight events,” Masvidal told ESPN. “Especially you don’t want to go up against the UFC. So, from the beginning, I was trying to switch the date. Nate’s a f*cking idiot. He was adamant about staying on that date because he’s not a UFC employee no more and (saying) ‘I don’t have to do nothing for the UFC’ and this and that.
“It just doesn’t make sense, especially when I know Nate thinks he’s a boxer now because he boxed the Jake Paul guy, but he’s not a boxer. He doesn’t have a boxing fanbase. The fanbase that he has is from MMA, from UFC. So, why go up against our own fanbase? Me as a promoter, I’m thinking I don’t even want to do it. I know a lot of fight fans would buy both or watch both events, but in my opinion, why even do it if there were dates that weren’t conflicting?”
Moving the date gives Masvidal extra time to prep, but it’s making him more eager to get his hands on Diaz.
“I don’t like that another month and a week got added to this already long training camp,” Masvidal said. “In hindsight, it doesn’t really matter because I’m making the transition from one sport to another. So the more time I get to practice and perfect my craft and sharpen my tools, it doesn’t hurt me or bother me the least bit. Now Nate Diaz’s ass is somebody that does bother me, and I want to f*ck him up.
“We could have had this fight at an earlier date, but this guy’s such a f*cking diva and a f*cking coward that he wouldn’t want to fight in Miami, didn’t want to fight in Texas because things didn’t go his way in Texas when he fought Jake Paul, didn’t want to fight in New York, didn’t want to fight in California unless it was in his hometown. I’m here pent up, frustrated, training my ass off every day just to get in there with this guy and f*cking hurt him.”
For more on the fight, visit MMA Junkie’s hub for Diaz vs. Masvidal 2.
