ANAHEIM, Calif. – While Nate Diaz and his crew blared a Bay Area rap classic, Dru Down’s “Pimp of the Year,” next door in celebration of a victory, a somber Jorge Masvidal stepped to the podium in the bowels of Honda Center.
Bottom line: He thought he won.
Unfortunately for Masvidal, two of three judges disagreed and awarded Diaz the victory by majority decision (95-95, 97-93, 98-92) in a thrilling boxing match Saturday night before 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, in the post-fight news conference. “A lot of those shots were landing in the corner. I was just getting my timing down – throw three, four shots that wouldn’t land, and then I’d throw a good power shot. I’d see that I hurt him or back him up, or he’d start goofing around. I hurt him to the body numerous times. I think one of the judges only gave me two rounds, and there’s just no way.”
The story of the fight over 10 rounds was volume vs. power. Whereas Diaz threw punches in bunches, Masvidal landed the biggest shots. Still, he ultimately fell short.
“From what I saw, I definitely hurt him way more than he ever hurt me,” Masvidal said. “I got way cleaner shots, especially to the body. He never even did anything to my body. I definitely hurt his body. A couple times I hurt him, he backed up. He put a lot of pressure and was coming forward, but he never hurt me. I don’t think he landed any meaningful punches. Eight (rounds) to two is f*cking nuts.”
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, though, ended with the doctor stopping it in the third round because of a cut under Diaz’s eye. With their 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 run it back in boxing.
“Definitely boxing. I guess call me a sore loser, but I’d want to do boxing,” Masvidal said. “And if he wanted to do MMA after that, we could do it. But definitely I want to do boxing over everything. Do it again.”
Masvidal, who came out of retirement after 15 months to rematch Diaz, said he is still under contract with the UFC for two fights and also has two fights left on a deal with Fanmio, which promoted the Diaz rematch. And he’s eager to fight again – whether it’s against Diaz or not.
“I love to compete, and now I’ve just got to look for the next one,” Masvidal said. “I’m a dog, I’m a field dog, I don’t like being in no cage or no kennel, so I’m just gonna get right back to work, get my ass in shape, and let’s go.”
For more on the fight, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Diaz vs. Masvidal 2.
