Jorge Masvidal Coach Believes Nate Diaz Rematch Would Be ‘Same Thing’
UFC 244 featured a fairly lopsided main event between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz. The pair competed for the Baddest Mother F*cker Championship inside Madison Square Garden.
It was all Masvidal from start to finish, with Diaz showing a bit more life as the third round came to a close. However, due to the nasty cuts on Diaz’s eye, the doctor decided to step in and stop the fight in controversial fashion. Much talk of a rematch has emerged since the bout’s conclusion.
Whether or not that happens remains to be seen. Recently, Masvidal’s coach, Mike Brown of American Top Team (ATT), spoke to MMA Fighting regarding the Diaz bout. Brown broke down exactly what the gameplan for Diaz was heading into UFC 244.
“He had some tricks up his sleeve that he didn’t use that he was planning on executing. So there were one or two things that he didn’t do that he wanted to do,” Brown said. “We won’t give them away in case he still fights Diaz again.
“Basically, [the game plan] was beat him up with kicks and fight him in the clinch, then beat him in the clinch. If it goes to the ground, be on top. Get our head free, good posture, ground and pound and kind of exactly what you saw was the game plan.”
Brown noted that things went about as expected as the fight played out. The ATT coach went on to credit Diaz’s toughness and knew it would be nearly impossible to put the Stockton slugger away.
“That first minute was crazy. He hurt him bad with that elbow and he fell over and then [Jorge] hit him with that head kick. I can’t believe he took it,” Brown said. “Then Jorge was landing some heavy ground and pound. It was brutal stuff. A lot of heavy shots.
“Nate’s got an incredible chin and like Jorge said, he’s a dog. You have to kill him to get him out of there. Honestly, it went a lot like we expected. We were confident. We thought [Jorge] was better in those areas. We thought it would look like that. We thought Nate would be tough as hell.
“We thought it would be nearly impossible to put him away and everything kind of was as we expected.”
In regards to a rematch, if it were to happen, Brown doesn’t see things going much differently. On a bad day the rounds would be close, but he still sees “Gamebred” coming out on top.
“I think we’d see the same thing,” Brown said. “That was pretty damn one-sided. He won all three rounds, all three were pretty one-sided. I think that’s how it’s always going to be.
“I mean on a good day Jorge gets him out of there, and on a bad day, maybe the rounds are a little closer but [Jorge] still wins them. That’s what I see.”
As far as what’s next for Masvidal, it’s simple, the Floridian is going wherever the biggest payday is.
“I just know with Jorge, he only really cares about the biggest paycheck. At the end of the day, it’s whatever is going to bring the biggest money,” Brown said. “In a way, I think he told them he’ll do it again and Jorge is a man of his word. He’ll fight Diaz again.
“Whether it’s in a few months or in one year, they’ll fight again I’m sure. It’s just about the timing. Whatever is going to bring the next biggest payday. I mean Nate would be another payday or maybe Conor [McGregor] is the biggest payday.
“Whether it’s the [Kamaru] Usman-Colby [Covington] winner, whoever the winner might be, I think all Jorge really cares about is from the business side and what’s going to pay him the most money.”
Do you agree with Brown that a rematch between Masvidal and Diaz would be the “same thing?”
