Chael Sonnen wants to see Jorge Masvidal take on Nick Diaz inside the Octagon next – but he doesn’t believe the matchup will ever actually come to fruition. Sonnen recently took to his podcast and discussed the topic of how Masvidal could revive his career.
Masvidal is currently on a three-fight losing streak after having established himself as one of the hottest stars in mixed martial arts (MMA) following a brilliant 2019 campaign that put him on the map. Those losses are made up of Kamaru Usman (twice) and Colby Covington. Now, fight fans are wondering what is next for “Gamebred” as he looks to get back on the path towards the title.
Chael Sonnen Wants Masvidal vs. Nick Diaz
Sonnen offered up a popular solution that has been discussed within the MMA community since 2020 – and that’s booking Masvidal against elder Diaz brother Nick for an Octagon showdown. However, Sonnen doesn’t believe Masvidal would go for it in the end.
“One that he should do – one that I’ve always wanted him to do, and one that he’s never one – and I wonder why – and I think it’s out of respect – but it’s Nick Diaz. First time I saw Jorge Masvidal I was in St. Petersburgh, Russia. He was 21 years old and he was walking to the ring. He hadn’t even gotten in the ring, let alone fought yet. And he had such an interesting persona.
“I turned to Matt Lindland who was sitting beside me and I tap him and I say ‘Someday they got top get this guy and Nick Diaz together.’ Now it ended up being the other way, they ended up getting Nate Diaz in there. But big brother Nick avenging, coming in after the fact – I mean this was talked about, this was discussed, this wasn’t Chael’s idea.
“Nick had talked about this, Nick was at Madison Square Garden, Nick was in the corner for the BMF Title and it was interesting – but Masvidal never co-signed it. He never went for that. I don’t know why. I know he knows how big that would be, and I know he knows I’m right that it would work.
“That’s obvious. But he didn’t do it. And I don’t predict he’s gonna. And I think it has to do with respect, and I think that’s interesting. So whether we got that fight or not – I do hope someday somebody asks Jorge the question of why he never went for it.”
Masvidal is no stranger to the Diaz family. The pair competed against one another in one of the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) events of 2019 at UFC 244 for the inaugural and one-off BMF Championship. While the fight certainly lived up to the hype while it lasted, an unfortunate doctor’s stoppage ended the contest that resulted in a Masvidal win.
With that being said, Masvidal was seemingly winning the bout handily up to the finish. A rematch was discussed and agreed to verbally by both men down the line, however, Nate is no longer contracted to the UFC as of this writing. Nick, on the other hand, is still apparently interested in fighting, and has mentioned a desire to avenge his little brother’s loss against Masvidal.
It remains to be seen if that’s an option the UFC will be exploring anytime soon.
