Last weekend, Nate Diaz gave the entire MMA community a terrible scare by announcing that he was out of his UFC 244 fight with Jorge Masvidal. Masvidal, of course, was not immune to this jarring news.
Speaking to MMA Fighting ahead of UFC 244, Masvidal explained how he reacted when this Diaz news came out.
“If I get anxiety or depression, I take to eating,” he said.
So what was on the menu in the midst of this anxiety-inducing drama? Two pizzas, fries, and quite a few forkfuls of other junk foods, apparently.
That being said, Masvidal claims he never believed Diaz would intentionally cheat.
“A little bit of anxiety came – not anxiety in the sense that I thought Nate was a cheater, because I never thought he was a cheater,” Masvidal said. “Just being certain that they might pull my fight because of some lab screw-up because some f**king weird-ass s**t.”
In the end, Diaz’s situation with USADA thankfully amounted to nothing. His fight with Masvidal will go ahead as planned.
While Masvidal admits he initially felt a bit of disdain toward USADA for their role in this ordeal, he still has some favorable things to say about the anti-doping agency.
“I could sit down and give USADA my opinions on it, but I want to say they’ve done a great job,” Masvidal said. “Guys like me are shining because of USADA. There was a time when everybody was looking like ‘Captain America’ and ‘Wolverine,’ and the guys that are natural weren’t shining as much. I’m able to send these people into orbit now because the system is at much more of a level playing field. I want to give big kudos to USADA. Can it be better? Yeah.”
Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz collide in the main event of UFC 244 this Saturday night in New York City.
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/29/2019.