Cesar Gracie: Nick Diaz ‘Crushes’ Guys Like Jorge Masvidal

One man who has been by Nick Diaz’s side for years believes the Stockton native can have great success against Jorge Masvidal.

Diaz has made it clear that he has a bone to pick with Masvidal. “Gamebred” defeated Nick’s younger brother Nate via TKO at UFC 244. Masvidal said he wanted to “baptize” Nate, causing Nick to respond with, “if that’s how you wanna walk, that’s on you.” Later on, Nick and Masvidal exchanged pleasantries on social media and expressed interest in fighting one another.

Cesar Gracie has been a mentor for the Diaz brothers over the years. He appeared on ESPN’s Ariel Helwani Show and admitted he likes the Masvidal matchup for Diaz.

“Talking to him yesterday, I felt like he’s got the fire back,” Gracie said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday. “We’re coordinating some good stuff. … I want to see him fight Masvidal. That’s my thing. I want that fight to happen and I kind of relayed that to him.

“… Every fight he’s ever had I’ve had some sort of participation if you will. So this one, I’m like ‘hey man, this is the guy I want you to fight. I want you to fight this guy, Masvidal.’ So we’ll see how Nick is with everything. If I get my way, that’s the fight we’ll set up.”

Gracie went on to express his belief that Masvidal’s style plays into Diaz’s hands.

“That is his belt. Nick is the BMF. That’s him,” he added. “It’s the perfect belt for Nate. I thought the hype on something on that would be so huge, to fight someone like that. This guy’s got really good hands. … But he [Diaz] crushes guys like that.

“I think it would be great for the fans who don’t know who Diaz is and let’s face it, there are a lot of new fans in the sport. And Nick has been out for a long time.”