TAMPA, Fla. – Kron Gracie couldn’t be happier that his teammate, Nate Diaz, is back in the spotlight with a “BMF” title fight against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 244.
Diaz (20-11 MMA, 15-9 UFC) long has been a popular name in MMA. However, after his rematch with Conor McGregor took place in 2016, Diaz went more than three years without stepping into the octagon. A win over Anthony Pettis in August at UFC 241 set up Diaz for the fight with Masvidal (34-13 MMA, 11-6 UFC) on Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden, and it pleases Gracie to see his longtime friend.
“I think it’s beautiful,” Gracie told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at UFC on ESPN+ 19 media day on Thursday. “Nate’s finally getting what he wanted, the recognition that he deserves, and he basically took that. He didn’t ask nobody for no favors, and no one was giving him no time of day at a certain point. He basically took that into his own hands, the power of his mind and his training and his fights and everything, and he was like, ‘You know what, I’m going to just go take what’s mine.’ He did. That’s all thanks to him and his spirit.”
Although there’s been some criticism about the “BMF,” or “Baddest Mother(Expletive),” title that Diaz and Masvidal will compete for at UFC 244, Gracie is all about it.
“He created this belt out of thin air, and now it’s a belt,” Gracie said. “I saw it on ESPN, and it said ‘Masvidal is fighting for the BMF belt.’ On ESPN it was a little thing and I was like, ‘What the (expletive)? They’re fighting for a belt now?’ This guy is amazing. It goes to show. I don’t need to say how impressive that is and how much of a star he is. I knew that from the beginning. I knew what he was and how powerful him and his brother are.”
Gracie (5-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who fights Cub Swanson (25-11 MMA, 10-7 UFC) in a featherweight bout on Saturday at UFC on ESPN+ 19, clearly has admiration for not only Nate Diaz, but his bother Nick, too. He revealed how their bond formed, all starting with a hand-selected process from Gracie.
“I was looking at all the fighters when I was getting into fighting, and I was like, ‘Hmm,’” Gracie said. “There’s a bunch of teams next to my gym, all these places. Where am I going to go train for a fight? Who do I want to train with?’ Nick and Nate. I was like, ‘These guys are it. This is where I want to learn and what team I want to be with.’ I made the decision, and coincidentally around the same time Nick and Cesar (Gracie) had asked me to come help him train Georges St-Pierre the first time when it got canceled. So we already had a connection there.
“Long story short, I was like, ‘This is my team.’ I still drive six hours to go train with them. I made it my team. I drove six hours to make it my team. Then they drove six hours to train with me at my gym, and there’s never enough amount of time to be around them. We always want more time with Nick, we always want more time with Nate, and we get what we can.”
Kron Gracie admires Nate Diaz for how he's earned UFC stardom, thinks 'it's beautiful'
