MIAMI – Jorge Masvidal felt the support of his people in full force as they taunted and harassed rival Nate Diaz in the latest tour stop promoting their upcoming boxing match.
On Wednesday night, Masvidal and Diaz spoke to the media and fans at a press conference on the Miami stop of “The Baddest Tour.” Chanting “305” and constantly calling out and booing Diaz, the crowd let Diaz know he was in enemy territory.
Masvidal was happy and proud to see his people have his back, and he believes it affected Diaz.
“It’s Dade County. I don’t give a f*ck who you are, you’re definitely going to feel the heat down here,” Masvidal told MMA Junkie. “From the moment you step up that f*cking airplane and you hit that airport, you’re going to feel that heat, and he definitely felt it.
“He sees now why I’m so violent and why I give everything I got for my crowd. We’re just bred a little different down here. You can just tell from the football athletes we produce to the boxers, everything we do out here is violence.”
Masvidal and Diaz are scheduled to fight in a boxing bout on June 1 at Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. This is somewhat of a rematch, as the two previously fought in the UFC back in 2019. The fight ended in a doctor’s stoppage TKO win for Masvidal, who was crowned the inaugural BMF champion that night in Madison Square Garden.
“Gamebred” thinks this press tour stop was much needed as he was fueled by the Miami crowd.
“To see my own people like that go hard for me, it always helps, it always motivates,” Masvidal said. “I look at their faces and all those motherf*ckers is me when I was growing up or when I get older – whatever stage they’re at. I see myself in them, so definitely it gives you that extra.”
Masvidal doesn’t want the fight to go to a decision or much less get stopped by doctor’s advice. He wants to put away Diaz and make his win definitive.
“Knock him dead,” Masvidal said when asked for a fight prediction. “I want no questions or nothing. I don’t want no man intervening on what I got to do. I have to kill the man, and that’s why I got these bad boys right here.”
For more on the fight, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Diaz vs. Masvidal 2.
