Jorge Masvidal discusses potential fight with Nick Diaz: I’d take it in a heartbeat

Last month, on the main card of the UFC’s latest trip to Denver, Colorado, Jorge Masvidal dazzled with a second round knockout of the streaking Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.

With this emphatic win, Masvidal catapulted himself up the welterweight rankings, where fights with the division’s top dogs now await. He has been mentioned as a possible opponent for dangerous grappling specialist Demian Maia. He’s been discussed as an opponent for Neil Magny. He’s even been mentioned as a potential dance partner for Georges St-Pierre’s return. Perhaps the most intriguing of all Masvidal’s options, however, is a fight with Stockton’s Nick Diaz.

Since his defeat of Cowboy, Masvidal has been adamant that he’s only interested in ranked opponents. Diaz, of course, isn’t currently ranked at welterweight, but Masvidal says he’d happily make an exception for the Stockton slugger. He weighed in on a potential scrap with Diaz on Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio.

“Nick’s a different case, obviously,” he said. “He’s super famous. He’s like a fight away from fighting for the title. He might go straight to the title. So that’s a different situation. He might not have a ranking, but his name carries a lot of weight, so if they put that fight together, I’d take it in a heartbeat obviously.”

Whether it’s Diaz, Maia, Magny, GSP, or somebody else, however, Masvidal just wants to fight and get paid.

“I’m broke,” he said. “I need to f*ck somebody up ASAP. I got taxes, I got kids, I got mortgage payments. Somebody’s ass has to get whooped.”

With his defeat of Cowboy, Masvidal moved onto a three-fight streak, as he has decisioned Ross Pearson and TKO’d Jake Ellenberger in his next most recent bouts. He’s now 4-2 since returning to welterweight, with his only hiccups being split decision losses to former lightweight champ Benson Henderson and the ranked Lorenz Larkin.

Diaz, meanwhile, has not been seen in the Octagon since January of 2015, when he fought Anderson Silva in a fight that was ultimately ruled a no-contest when he tested positive for marijuana metabolites and Silva tested positive for two more severe band substances.

Would you be interested in a Jorge Masvidal vs. Nick Diaz fight? Who do you think would win? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/23/2017.