As a fellow welterweight veteran, Jorge Masvidal is taking a keen interest in the upcoming rematch between former champion Robbie lawler and Nick Diaz, who is coming out of retirement more than six years after he last set foot in the Octagon at UFC 266 later this month.
And though he makes it clear he has a lot of respect for his former teammate Lawler, Masvidal has tipped the slight underdog, Diaz to come out on top.
“(I’m) very interested in this outcome, of course,” Masvidal said during a YouTube Q&A. “(I) love Robbie Lawler. We were teammates for about four years. (He’s) one of the better guys in the sport – just a stand-up dude, great dude, great fighter. I don’t think he’s the same fighter that he was four years ago. I haven’t seen Nick Diaz fight in eight years, so this fight to me is very, like – I don’t know what’s going to happen.
“I haven’t seen Nick fight. I didn’t know if he was staying in the best shape or not during these eight years. It’s not that ring rust is everything, but eight years is a lot of time to be sitting on the bench. So I want to say that Robbie hasn’t been looking like himself, he hasn’t been looking the greatest in his fights with – this is a tough one to call for me. But if I was going to put money on it, I’d probably lean toward Nick.”
Diaz and Lawler were both young rising stars when they first fought in the UFC all the way back in 2004 at UFC 47, with Diaz coming out on top courtesy of a big KO finish in the second round that put him firmly on the MMA map in what was only his second fight for the promotion.
