Former Coach Believes Nick Diaz at his Best ‘Crushes’ Jorge Masvidal
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.
Advertisement
Diaz has accused Masvidal of disrespecting his younger brother by claiming he “baptized” him in their fight and has shown interest in stepping inside the Octagon to settle the score.
Diaz’s former coach, Cesar
Gracie, likes the idea of the pair fighting for the BMF belt
and believes it’d sell really well with MMA fans (via MMAMania.com):
“That is his belt. The BMF belt, Nick is the BMF, if you will. That’s the perfect belt for Nick," said Gracie during a recent interview on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show.
"The hype on something like that would be so huge to fight a guy like that. You got to get fighters that are doing something now.”
Masvidal dominated younger brother Nate at UFC 244 before a doctor stoppage ended the fight due to a nasty cut.
Gracie said if Diaz steps into the cage, it’ll be a whole different challenge for Masvidal, depending on which version shows up.
“The Masvidal fight with Nate, I watched it and I thought, ‘OK, this guy has really good hands.’ He is a tough fighter,” he said. “But I think Nick at his best, I don’t know how he would do, he’d have to be in shape. But the Nick Diaz I’ve seen at his best or anywhere near it, he crushes guys like that.”
Gracie added that considering Nick has been out of fighting since 2015, his return would be good for newer fans of MMA who may have never seen him fight before.
“I think it would be great for the fans who don’t know who Nick Diaz is. And lets face it, there are a lot of new fans in the sport and Nick has been out for a long time," he said. "The fans who don’t know who Nick Diaz is, that would be a great showcase for him to come back."
Related Articles
