Will the fight be as entertaining as the brawl?
Nate Diaz’s team and Jorge Masvidal’s team threw down during a news conference June 6 in Anaheim, California, site of the actual boxing match – a light-heavyweight bout scheduled for 10 rounds Saturday night at the Honda Center.
“Now, on a personal level, yeah, I don’t like this dude at all, for what happened with my coach and (expletive),” Masvidal said of the brawl. “But we’ll figure it out July 6 when we get in there.”
It will be about more than the brawl.
In November 2019, Diaz and Masvidal squared off for UFC’s original BMF. Masvidal emerged the victor after the doctor stopped the fight in the third round, when Diaz suffered a cut over his right eye. But Masvidal was dominating the night – the oddsmakers have installed him as a favorite for this rematch.
Follow along for live updates for the Diaz-Masvidal fight and undercard.
Diaz’s team and Masdival’s team have been put on opposite sides of the Honda Center and extra security has been brought in, according to Fanmio’s broadcast. The teams brawled after a press conference on June 6.
Posting on his X account, McGregor said he decided to put $500,000 on Diaz and that said the wager will net him more than $1.6 million.
“Range, form, experience, solely hands being used, I can’t see Masvidal causing any problems to Nate in a boxing ring whatsoever,’’ McGregor wrote. “They are both little play around (expletive) in a fight…but I feel Nate does him in EASY here for real.”
McGregor and Diaz split a pair of bloody MMA fights in 2016 and Diaz recently expressed interest in a trilogy bout.
In a spirited fight, Lopez and Sanchez saved their best for last, and the late rounds appeared to propel Lopez to victory.
Sanchez suffered more damage from an accidental headbutt than from any of Lopez’s punches. But Lopez persuaded the judges with his output.
They scored it 77-75, 77-75, 77-75.
Lopez, a 27-year-old from Corona, Calif., improved to 16-2-2. Sanchez, a 33-year-old who was born in Mexico and lives in Fairfield, Calif., fell to 23-6-1.
Turns out records can be highly deceptive. Dunn entered the heavyweight bout 5-0 with five knockouts. Costa entered 3-7 and had been knocked out in each of his defeats.
But Costa survived a few powerful punches from Dunn in the opening round, then knocked out his previous undefeated opponent in the second round with a barrage of punches.
Dunn, a 27-year-old from Hollywood, looked to be as fatigued as he was hurt and he dropped to a knee and stayed there though the 10-count. Costa, a 22-year-old Brazilian, looked ready for more. In fact, he didn’t even bother to sit down between the first and second rounds.
Lopez improved to 10-0 with a victory over Andres Martinez in a six-round super middleweight bout.
The judges scored it 59-54, 58-55, 59-54 in favor of Lopez, the 29-year-old from Ceres, Calif.
Martinez, 25 and born in Equatorial Guinea, fell to 4-2.
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Boxing: 0-1. MMA: 22-13.
MMA: 35-17 with 16 KOs. Boxing: 1-0.
The Diaz-Masvidal fight takes place today, July 6.
The main card for Saturday’s fight starts at 6 p.m. ET.
Saturday’s fight will take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Daniel Jacobs vs. Shane Mosley Jr., middleweight
Anthony Pettis vs. Chris Avila, light heavyweight
Sean Garcia vs. Amado Vargas, lightweight
Devin Cushing vs. Manny Correa, lightweight
Diaz is 39. Masvidal also is 39.
5-foot-11, 170 pounds
6-foot, 170 pounds
Masvidal is stewing over the brawl between his team and Diaz’s team at a June 6 press conference. “It went from boxing setting to kill setting,” he said of the incident. “That’s all I want to do is I want to hurt this dude bad.”
Daniel Cormier, former UFC heavyweight champion: “Even in the mixed martial arts fight, we kind of had the idea that Masvidal would be the better striker. Nate was the better wrestler, the better grappler, and Masvidal dominated that. So now you’re telling me you’re gonna now limit Nate Diaz to fighting Jorge in the only area that we felt that he held the advantage going into fight one? Yeah, I don’t anticipate it going very well for my boy Nate Diaz.’’
Michael Bisping, former UFC middleweight champion: “I’ve got Masvidal winning this one. He won the first one. The first one was kind of a beatdown. Yeah, it was stopped with a cut, but the cut came because Masvidal was all over him. He was faster, he was more powerful, and he was more technical, and I do not see much changing.”
Josh Peter, USA TODAY Sports: Nate Diaz’s uninspiring performance against Jake Paul that ended in a unanimous decision loss was proof he’s unfit for the boxing ring. Masvidal is going to prove it again. Prediction: Masvidal by TKO, 8th round.
Jake Paul won the 10-round bout by unanimous decision
$8 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth
Get-in tickets were $60 this week on StubHub, which listed tickets listed for as much as $533.
Diaz’s team and Masvidal’s team brawled during a June 6 press conference in Anaheim, Calif. Diaz sidestepped the melee.
22-13 with 5 KOs.
DraftKings: Masvidal -255 favorite, +200 Diaz underdog
FanDuel: Masvidal -270, Diaz +210
