Diaz v Masvidal drama as mass brawl erupts at press conference

The July 6 fight between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal sparked into life on Thursday night, when a brawl erupted between the two boxers’ camps after their press conference.

The drama began when Diaz refused to have the traditional post-conference faceoff with fan-favourite Masvidal.

Words had been exchanged between the two former UFC stars at the media event, with indifference shifting to bad blood over the course of the conversation. When organisers requested that the pair face off, Diaz refused and walked off into the crowd.

Masvidal followed the 39-year-old, wading his way through Diaz’s entourage. It’s unclear exactly what was said in close quarters, but the result was a member of Diaz’s team swinging wildly at Masvidal.

The punch fell significantly short, sparking an all-out melee. Someone from Masvidal’s side launched at the protagonist, receiving perhaps the only decent strike of the affair to the face.

Several minutes of chaos ensued as the two teams went at each other. Both fighters appeared to be well back from the action, however.

Press conference drama enough to sell steep PPV?

It’s just as well a layer of interest is being added to Diaz vs Masvidal, because the pay-per-view price for their bout has just been released.

The fight, promoted by Real Fight Inc. and Gamebred Boxing, is set at US$79.99 on pay-per-view.

This is more than last month’s Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk bout, which was arguably the biggest boxing match of the past 25 years. That event went for US$69.

Online bookies have Masvidal slated as a -227.27 favourite a month out, with Diaz at +175 in the outright betting odds.

Sports news