The Diaz vs. Masvidal 2 Pre-Fight Press Conference took place on Wednesday and got off to a late start. When it finally began, things took an interesting turn when influencer N3ON asked Nate Diaz if he was going to retire after he gets knocked out. The question enraged Diaz and after the press conference, Diaz’ crew chased N3ON in the streets.
Former UFC welterweights, Diaz and Jorge Masvidal, have unfinished business and the two will rematch inside the boxing ring at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on July 6.
The two fought for the inaugural “BMF” belt at UFC 244 in November 2019. Masvidal won via doctor stoppage due to a cut at the concluding of the third round. The stoppage didn’t sit well with Diaz.
Masvial in 1-0 as a professional boxer but hasn’t had a boxing match since June 2005. Diaz made his professional boxing debut last August, losing to Jake Paul via unanimous decision.
Former UFC welterweights Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal have unfinished business and the two will rematch inside the boxing ring at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on July 6.
The two fought for the inaugural “BMF” belt at UFC 244 in November 2019. Masvidal won via doctor stoppage due to a cut at the concluding of the third round. The stoppage didn’t sit well with Diaz.
Masvial in 1-0 as a professional boxer but hasn’t had a boxing match since June 2005. Diaz made his professional boxing debut last August, losing to Jake Paul via unanimous decision.
On Thursday, a press conference was held to promote the event.
UFC 305 taples place at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia on Aug. 17 and is headlined by a middleweight title bout. Champion Dricus du Plessis takes on former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya in the UFC 305 main event.
On Wednesday, the UFC 305: On Sale Press Conference took place promoting the event in Western Australia. Du Plessis and Adesanya participated alongside flyweights Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg. Following the questions, the fighters faced off with their opponents for the first time.
Former UFC welterweights Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal have unfinished business and the two will rematch inside the boxing ring at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on July 6.
The two fought for the inaugural “BMF” belt at UFC 244 in November 2019. Masvidal won via doctor stoppage due to a cut at the concluding of the third round. The stoppage didn’t sit well with Diaz.
Masvial in 1-0 as a professional boxer but hasn’t had a boxing match since June 2005. Diaz made his professional boxing debut last August, losing to Jake Paul via unanimous decision.
On Monday, Michael Chandler posted on social media that he was offered a fight against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev for October. Former interim lightweight titleholder Dustin Poirier also offered to faced Makhachev in a rematch if Makhachev doesn’t face top contender Arman Tsarukyan next.
“I’ve been offered @MAKHACHEVMMA in October – but if @TheNotoriousMMA little pinky toe is ready by Sept, let’s do sphere. Biggest sporting event in history of sports,” Chandler posted on X.
“If arman can’t fight let’s go again @MAKHACHEVMMA,” Poirier wrote.
I’ve been offered @MAKHACHEVMMA in October – but if @TheNotoriousMMA little pinky toe is ready by Sept, let’s do sphere. Biggest sporting event in history of sports!!!! @RiyadhSeason #ufc306 pic.twitter.com/STUUFns2Hp
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) July 2, 2024
If arman can't fight let's go again @MAKHACHEVMMA https://t.co/RibEH9MFXr
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) July 1, 2024
Makhachev responded to both Chandler and Poirier and showed no interest in fighting either of them. After all, they’re both coming off of losses.
“No thanks,” Makhachev responded to Poirier. His response to Chandler wasn’t as cordial. “You are unreliable dude, one tweet from your master, and you’ll run away. Champ needs real opponent,” Makhachev wrote in response to Chandler.
No thanks https://t.co/FBrjmGmTV3
— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) July 1, 2024
You are unreliable dude, one tweet from your master, and you’ll run away. Champ needs real opponent. https://t.co/WcmHLvcsjI
— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) July 2, 2024
Chandler hasn’t fought since November 2022, losing to Poirier via submission. After coaching The Ultimate Fighter 31 opposite Conor McGregor, Chandler has waited for the “Notorious” to return. The two were scheduled to headlined UFC 303 on July 29, but an injured toe forced McGregor out of the fight.
Makhachev defeated Poirier in his last outing at UFC 302 on June 1. Poirier may have given Makhachev the toughest fight of his title reign, but Makhachev finished Poirier in the final round via brabo choke.
Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has stated the he’d like to move up to the heavyweight division after his last two fights. A former middleweight champion, Pereira could be the first fighter in UFC history to win championships in three different weight classes.
“I think that’s (a move to heavyweight) in my future. I said that last time I was here. I said it a lot but there didn’t seem to be too much interest in the organization, but I’m here. I’m available, and I do think that’s in my future” Pereira said following his second-round knockout win over Jiri Prochazka in the UFC 303 main event on Saturday.
While the fight promotion may not want Pereira to make the move to heavyweight, UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley does. In his UFC 303 reaction video, O’Malley pondered the potential matchups for “Poatan” in the heavyweight division.
“Imagine Alex Pereira versus Jon Jones. Yeah. Alex Pereira verus Stipe [Miocic]. Yeah. Imagine Alex versus Francis [Ngannou] at the Apex. That would be crazy,” O’Malley said. “He’s knocking these dudes out with ease it looks like. It literally looks like he’s doing it with ease. I would love to see him go up to heavyweight.”
“He possesses an unreal KO power in that left hook. The left head kick. He has a beautiful switch kick. His leg kicks are really good. I mean, he’s mastered his style,” O’Malley continued. “He’s as good as it gets.”
Pereira holds knockout wins over former middleweight champions Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya. Since moving to the 205-pound weight class, Pereira has knocked out former titleholders Jamahal Hill, and Jiri Prochazka twice. He also has a split decision win over former champion Jan Blachowicz. He’s stopped six of his nine UFC opponents.
No one wants former two-division champion Conor McGregor to return more than Michael Chandler. “Iron” last fought in November 2022. He and McGregor were opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 31 which began filming in February 2023 and aired in May through August last summer. A fight between McGregor and Chandler has been in the works for well over a year. Chandler has opted to wait for McGregor to be ready to fight instead of accepting a bout against a different opponent.
“For me, the last year and a half since I got the call in January of 2022 about The Ultimate Fighter, there was a little bit of certainty there doing The Ultimate Fighter. Originally it was, hey we’re going to fight in September after the show. Obviously we know how that played out,” explained Chandler during a media crum at UFC 303.
“We got booked for the following June. The last couple of weeks I honestly was just living in it. The press conference gets canceled… Then it was just rumors, the rumor mill. With an organization, a worldwide organization as big as the UFC, people are going to talk. People are going to speculate,” Chandler continued. “All the way up until the last moment when I got the call, Conor’s never pulled out of a fight whether it was an injury, whether it was whatever the circumstances. I stayed positive and stayed training and then I got the phone call.”
When McGregor eventually does return, Chandler has no doubt that he’ll be the Irishman’s opponent. He was adamant that McGregor’s road back to the UFC runs through him.
Related: Jiri Prochazka questions retirement after UFC 303 defeat
“I’m not really that worried about it. Conor can’t, at this point, and I’ve said this publicly, I’m not letting him off the hook,” Chandler said. “He’d love to come back and fight someone other than Michael Chandler with what I bring to the octagon. I think there’s no way he comes back to the UFC and doesn’t fight me.
“If I do pivot, if there are other names being thrown out, if there are huge fights that I can go ahead and pivot and take, whenever he is ready to come back his road back to the UFC goes straight through Nashville, Tennessee and Michael Chandler. And that’s it.”
Chandler cited ‘sources close to Conor’ and gave a timeframe for when he believes McGregor will return. According to Chandler, McGregor making the walk to the octagon could be just around the corner.
“Sources close to Conor I’m sure know that he’s going to be ready in September, August,” said Chandler.
Michael Chandler has been sidelined since November 2022. In January of 2023, he signed a deal to coach The Ultimate Fighter 31 opposite former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor. The two were expected to fight at the conclusion of the season which aired last summer.
The two were booked to headline UFC 303 on June 29, but McGregor was forced out of the fight due to a broken toe. With a timeframe for McGregor’s return uncertain, Chandler has been offered a fight against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in October. Before that, he’d like to face McGregor in September.
“I’ve been offered @MAKHACHEVMMA in October – but if @TheNotoriousMMA little pinky toe is ready by Sept, let’s do sphere. Biggest sporting event in history of sports,” Chandler tweeted on Monday.
I’ve been offered @MAKHACHEVMMA in October – but if @TheNotoriousMMA little pinky toe is ready by Sept, let’s do sphere. Biggest sporting event in history of sports!!!! @RiyadhSeason #ufc306 pic.twitter.com/STUUFns2Hp
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) July 2, 2024
McGregor has been out of action since his trilogy fight loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. He suffered a broken leg in the fight and will attempt a comeback after more than three years away from competition when he eventually steps foot back inside the octagon again.
Makhachev defeated Poirier in his last outing at UFC 302 on June 1. He has successfully defended the title three times and hasn’t lost a fight since 2015.
Rising welterweight Ian Machado Garry defeated Michael “Venom” Page in a bout that kicked off Saturday’s UFC 303 main card. Garry extended his unbeaten streak to 15 consecutive fights, but former interim welterweight titleholder Colby Covington was not impressed.
“Fighting cans from the Indian casino leagues. Oh, big, big deal. You know, anybody could be 15 and 0 fighting a bunch of 15 bums. Even Dana White himself, you know, said what he thought of the performance. He thought it was a draw. He didn’t think there should have been a winner,” Covington said during an appearance on Submission Radio.
“I feel bad for the fans. The fans got robbed of, you know, a pay-per-view opener That’s supposed to be the opener pay-per-view? That was pathetic. That guy’s fighting the number 14 guy in the world and barely scraping by. I think he lost the fight. So, I feel bad for the fans. They got robbed. But it just shows how much of a bum he is,” Covington continued.
Covington and Garry have a long-standing feud that began with a callout and Covington hurling insults and allegations toward Garry’s wife, Layla. They’ve gone back and forth on social media, insulted each other in interviews but the fight promotion couldn’t secure a fight between the two. Covington considers Garry to be a ‘Conor McGregor wannabe’ and doesn’t think “The Future” has star power.
“I’m like, oh yeah, I want to be on a Conor McGregor card. He was willing to do whatever he wanted to be on the Conor McGregor card because his name is Conor McGregor. He’s the Conor Gregor wannabe. He did all this, pulled all these strings to get on the card and then Conor left him at the altar. I thought it was pretty funny,”Covington said.
“I thought he was a star. I thought Ian Garry was a big name. What happened? Like they had their co-main events fall through like 6 or 7 times. There was a guy that was already on the card. Why couldn’t he get bumped up to co-main event,” continued Covington. “I guess that shows us what UFC thinks about the guy, that the guy’s an absolute nobody, and he’s a bum, and he has no reason to talk about anything.”
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