Category: Radio Highlight

[autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] has been called many things throughout his combat sports career, but there were a few particular comments from former foe Nate Diaz that have always stayed on his mind.

“Gamebred” has recently expressed a desire to return to combat sports, specifically for a scrap against Diaz, in the boxing ring or in an MMA cage. Although Masvidal has a dominant win over Diaz under his belt, business between the two is not quite finished.

“Nate, though he called me some f*cking names after the fight that I didn’t like, like ‘coward’ and f*cking ‘quitter,’ this and that, I still got a lot of respect for the dude,” Masvidal told MMA Junkie Radio. “I love his style and how he fights, and what he represents. But obviously, I didn’t like when he called me that.”

The pair first met in the headlining act of UFC 244, which was an event unique in several ways. Aside from then-current United States president Donald Trump sitting cageside with Hollywood and WWE superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson nearby, Masvidal competed against Diaz in the first-ever BMF title fight.

After three rounds, the cageside doctor called a stop to the fight due to cuts on Diaz’s right eye. It was a strong showing for Masvidal, one that would end up being the last victory of his UFC career. Diaz immediately stated he wanted to run the fight back, as he felt things would have been different if the fight continued.

“Him always saying that I got saved by the referee, that Round 4 and 5 were going to swing his way – which I know that was psychological play for him to get another rematch, which I was always down to do,” Masvidal said. “To me it’s like, you shouldn’t have said that, man, because it might just happen. I’m going to whoop your ass again. I’m going to show you what would happen in Round 4 and 5.”

Since exiting the UFC last April, Masvidal has put on the promoter hat, running Gamebred boxing and bareknuckle MMA events. Perhaps watching fights from a different perspective helped to get his competitive juices flowing again. He’s also never wanted to end his fighting career on a loss, so a combination of things has led him to revisit an old rivalry, and prove to Diaz again that the labels he mockingly used are inaccurate.

“I’ve never tapped in my career,” Masvidal said. “So him calling me a quitter is like crazy. I’ve got over 50 fights, I’ve never tapped. I’ve actually gone to sleep. … So, calling me a quitter, or I’ve never came out of my stool, or something like that, I’m up at that f*cking bell every time. Winning or losing, dying, whatever it is, I’m going to fight, man. Him calling me those things is p*ssy ass sh*t. That ain’t cool, motherf*cker. So, let’s scrap. Let’s fight about it.

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When it comes to Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA, perhaps it should come as no surprise that [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] is heavily involved. After all, that’s his nickname and his likeness in the logo.

But signing fighters, planning events and making fights is far from a one-man job, said Masvidal, whose role is “more the recruiting side, matchmaking to an extent.” It’s a team effort.

Take this weekend for instance, with former UFC champion Junior Dos Santos and UFC veteran Alan Belcher squaring off in the first Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA heavyweight title fight that headlines Saturday’s event at Kia Center in Orlando, Fla.

“Me and the team put together this plan that Fabricio Werdum would face Junior Dos Santos, and Roy Nelson and Alan Belcher were over here, and the cream would just rise to the top, you know?” Masvidal told MMA Junkie Radio on Thursday. “We’d have our heavyweight championship with the two winners, and here we are.”

Masvidal, 39, got into the promotion side of the fight game back in 2021 while he was still an active UFC fighter, running both MMA and boxing events. Masvidal retired last year (although he’s itching to come back), which freed him up to take on more responsibility.

Masvidal said he’s “not hands-on on every single detail” about the promotion, but “on the matchups, I try to be as much as possible.” One thing Masvidal said he does in hopes of maximizing the excitement of fights under his banner is study.

“I want to put the right dogs in there, so I watch film of all the guys that have been there, see how they act, how they take a shot, how they give a shot, if they got that dog in them,” Masvidal said. “I don’t want to bring individuals that, when they feel that bone on bone, they’re gonna want to hug it out. We try to match these guys very, very well – just dog-on-dog action.”

He added, “I want only guys that f*cking want to fight. So when I see the guys in the gym getting after it, and they’re letting us know, ‘Look, man, I’m willing to die by this shit,’ those are the guys I want to book.”

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