Gracie: At His Best, Diaz Crushes Masvidal

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Not long after Jorge Masvidal defeated Nate Diaz to win the “BMF” title at UFC 244 in New York City a few weeks ago (highlights), Nick Diaz came out to proclaim that the “baddest motherfucker” label and title belongs to him, and only him.

Naturally, “Gamebred” fired back, and chatter of a fight between the two slowly started to gain some steam. According to Nick’s former trainer, Cesar Gracie, a fight between two men like Nick and Jorge would be enormous for everyone involved.

“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.”

After watching Jorge dominate Nate at UFC 244 before eventually earning a technical knockout win (TKO) win via doctor’s stoppage, Gracie feels Jorge would be a good challenge for the eldest Diaz brother.

And if the Stockton slugger comes prepared and at his best, things won’t go too well for “Gamebred”

“The Masvidal fight with Nate, I watched it and I thought, ‘okay, 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.”

Furthermore, Gracie says that should Nick make his return against Jorge, it would be a great introduction for him to the new crop of MMA fans who may not be too familiar with him.

“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.”

As it stands, Diaz — who hasn’t competed in four years — hasn’t committed to an actual return to action, though he has been challenging Masvidal at every turn.

Whether or not UFC officials actually follow through with it remains to be seen, as Masvidal is in line to face the winner of the upcoming Welterweight title fight between division champion, Kamaru Usman, and No. 1 contender, Colby Covington, set to go down at UFC 245 on December 14, 2019.