ANAHEIM, Calif. — As Nate Diaz and his crew played a Bay Area rap classic, Dru Down’s “Pimp of the Year,” alongside in celebration of their victory, a somber Jorge Masvidal took the podium in the bowels of the Honda Center.
In short: he thought he won.
Unfortunately for Masvidal, two of the three judges disagreed and awarded Diaz the majority decision victory (95-95, 97-93, 98-92) in a thrilling Saturday night boxing match in front of an announced crowd of 18,040. fans – almost all of them on Team Diaz.
“I definitely know the judges were influenced by the crowd,” Masvidal told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at the post-fight press conference. “A lot of those shots landed in the corner. I was just timing it – throwing three, four blows that didn’t land, and then I would throw a good powerful blow. I would see if I would hurt him or support him, or he would start playing around. I hurt him in the body countless times. I think one of the judges only gave me two rounds and there’s no way.”
The story of the fight over 10 rounds was volume versus power. While Diaz threw group punches, Masvidal landed the biggest blows. Still, he ultimately fell short.
“From what I saw, I definitely hurt him a lot more than he hurt me,” Masvidal said. “I got much cleaner photos, especially of the body. He never did anything to my body. I definitely hurt his body. A few times I hurt him, he backed away. He put a lot of pressure and kept moving forward, but he never hurt me. I don’t think he threw any significant punches. Eight (rounds) for two is crazy.
Jorge Masvidal punches Nate Diaz in a boxing match at the Honda Center. (Esther Lin/Fanmio)
For Diaz, the result was a measure of revenge after losing the inaugural BMF title fight to Masvidal in November 2019, at UFC 244. That fight, however, ended with the doctor stopping it in the third round because of a cut under Diaz’s eye. With the boxing match ending by majority decision rather than reaching a more decisive end, there could be reason for a trilogy.
If Masvidal had his way, he and Diaz would return to boxing.
“Definitely boxing. I guess call me a sore loser, but I would like to take up boxing,” said Masvidal. “And if he wanted to do MMA after that, we could do it. But I definitely want to do boxing above all else. Do it again.”
Masvidal, who came out of retirement after 15 months for the Diaz rematch, said he still has a two-fight contract with the UFC and also has two fights left on his contract with Fanmio, which promoted the Diaz rematch. And he’s eager to fight again – whether against Diaz or not.
“I love competing and now I just have to look for the next one,” said Masvidal. “I’m a dog, I’m a field dog, I don’t like being without a cage or kennel, so I’m going to get back to work, get my ass in shape and let’s go.”
For more on the fight, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub to Diaz x Masvidal 2.
