UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen has revealed an unusual backup offer for the upcoming boxing fight between MMA legends Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal.
The pair originally scrapped it out in the UFC octagon back in 2019 for the inaugural BMF title and are set to run it back in the boxing ring later this summer – albeit after a significant delay.
Nate Diaz vs Jorge Masvidal boxing fight postponed
UFC legends Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal were originally meant to fight on Saturday, June 1 at the Kia Forum in California; however, the event has now been reportedly delayed until July 6.
As broken by Boxing Scene’s Lance Pugmire, the boxing match is not only being delayed by a month but is also being moved to the Honda Center in Anaheim.
As reported by Ariel Helwani, the primary reason for the postponement is due to the original date of June 1 clashing with UFC 302, headlined by lightweight champion Islam Makhachev against fan favorite veteran Dustin Poirier.
Chael Sonnen claims he was offered backup role for Diaz vs Masvidal
Speaking via the latest episode of The MMA Hour, former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen claimed that he had been offered the backup fighter role for the upcoming boxing fight between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal.
“I support anything that Nate does, and I hate everything that Jorge does,” teased the fan-favorite fighter, before sharing that an offer was indeed made behind closed doors:
“I got contacted about this behind the scenes to be the backup fighter, but I don’t like the idea of being anybody’s backup fighter – I’ve never spoken about that and that’s very serious, I’m not joking around right now.”
“I don’t like that word [backup], they used a different word because there was no scenario where I would fight with Nate and they knew that – so it was meaning if Nate can’t do it, will you take on Masvidal and I said, ‘Absolutely I will’.”
Sonnen is 47 years old and hasn’t competed in MMA since 2019; having left the UFC in 2013 to continue his career in Bellator, where he went 2-3 in bouts against fellow legends Fedor Emilianenko, Quinton Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Tito Ortiz, and Lyoto Machida.
Masvidal himself responded to Sonnen’s previous callout by stating that he would offer the biggest payday that Sonnen had ever seen, and that he would beat him with his right hand tied behind his back.
Unsurprisingly, Sonnen had a stern-yet-humorous response to such a suggestion:
“I will fight Masvidal right now, he can use his right hand, he can kick me in the nuts, he can do anything he wants [because] I will be juiced up and I will beat Jorge Masvidal anytime…But I won’t take the fight from Nate, and this is exactly what I told them – word for word.”
Sonnen previously wrote ‘poems’ for ‘pet idiot’ Jorge Masvidal
Whilst Sonnen stated that he’d never take such an opportunity away from Nate Diaz, the fan-favorite fighter-turned-pundit remains eager to get in there with Jorge Masvidal, or at least to get under Gamebred’s skin.
Only back in April, Sonnen shared a series of posts in which he penned a haiku poem for Masvidal, in which he called the former BMF title holder his “pet idiot ” before hilariously asking readers to “please add your own gong-and-waterfall mental soundscape.”
Broken into multiple posts, the poem reads:
The moon hangs brightly;
An old fighter sleeps outdoors.
Sonnen broke his mind.
Masvidumb watches
The pen-light’s hard to follow!
EMT shakes head.
Punk. Drunk. Smells like Skunk.
Diaz made a fool of him
He chose unwisely.
Picnic chair, Dirt floor.
Shoplifted, rusty, clippers.
Haircut of regret
Oxygen Cannula
Strapped to a gurney; alone
While Nate smokes reefer
Monkey snatches plum
Nate beats him like a drum
Jorge Masvidal is dumb.
‘The art of mental warfare has long been mastered – Never change ‘Uncle’ Chael, never change.