Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz may have shared the octagon together, but when it comes to Diaz’s latest altercation in New Orleans, Masvidal appears to have his former foe’s back.
A few weeks ago, Diaz was seen on camera choking Logan Paul lookalike Rodney Peterson unconscious following a Misfits Boxing event, which Diaz attended in support of teammate Chris Avila. Diaz was subsequently arrested and now faces potential second-degree battery charges. Ahead of his Gamebred Bareknuckle event this Friday, the now-retired Masvidal gave his thoughts on the situation.
“I haven’t seen like all the camera angles and this and that, but from what I know and from what I’ve seen, it looks like that dude attacked Nate, and Nate defended himself, and instead of punching him in the face and breaking his jaw, he was very cool about it and just like put him to sleep, like, ‘Yo, chill out, don’t get crazy,’” Masvidal told MMA Fighting. “I don’t know, I saw that he got hit with some charges and stuff. I think that’s bulls***.
“It’s weird, it looks like they’re pushing up on him and he’s kind of backing up and then it happened, so I don’t know what else to say. Then at least here in Florida, we got this rule called stand your ground. You can defend yourself if somebody is attacking you. I don’t know how it works in [Louisiana], but it looks crazy, man, because it’s a fighter. A lot of people do want to challenge you sometimes, and have a couple of drinks and they want to start mouthing off, and it goes from like half-joking to now they want to play with you and it’s like, ‘Well, I don’t play like that at all.’
“I mean, you’re like f****** around. We could either go 100 percent, or not go at all.”
Masvidal emerged as a massive star for the UFC after an incredible 2019 campaign in which he stopped Diaz, Darren Till, and Ben Askren — which earned him back-to-back title fights against then-champ Kamaru Usman in 2020.
With that star power comes notoriety; when someone of Masvidal’s stature is out and about, it’s hard to ignore. While it can be a bit overwhelming at times, “Gamebred” understands the role. Whether he’s by himself or out with friends, he’s happy to take pictures and talk with fans. But there are times when he wants to be left alone, which is completely understandable.
“When I’m with my kids, that’s the only time I get overwhelmed,” Masvidal said. “When I’m with my family and we’re at dinner, or at the movies or something, and it’s like one person has been staring at me the whole time and then like, ‘Hey man, I’m so sorry, so sorry,’ which you’re not because you’re gonna still ask for it anyways, ‘Can I get a picture?’
“And I’m like looking around and I’m like, ‘I got you and then I give him that picture and then 20 people stand up like, ‘I wasn’t gonna say anything, but if he got a picture, can I get a picture?’ That’s trouble. And my kids are getting crazy, they’re like, ‘Man, I want to spend time with you, what’s going on?’
“So we don’t go out and eat that much, things like that, but it comes with the territory, right? I signed up for this. My paychecks depended on how many individuals either loved me or hated me, or just knew of me. So I can’t complain now that I’ve achieved that plan.”
