Former adversaries Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz may have fought in the octagon, but when it comes to Diaz’s recent altercation in New Orleans, Masvidal appears to be on his side. Diaz was caught on camera choking Rodney Peterson, a Logan Paul doppelganger, into unconsciousness after attending a Misfits Boxing event in support of his teammate Chris Avila.

Diaz was arrested and is now facing potential second-degree battery charges. Ahead of his Gamebred Bareknuckle event, Masvidal gave his opinion on the situation.
While acknowledging that he has not seen all the camera angles, Masvidal believes that Peterson attacked Diaz, and Diaz simply defended himself. Rather than punching Peterson in the face, Diaz opted to put him to sleep in a non-violent way.

Although Masvidal understands that Diaz has been charged, he thinks that the charges are unwarranted. Noting that “here in Florida, we have this rule called stand your ground. You can defend yourself if someone is attacking you,” Masvidal surmises that the incident is a classic case of someone challenging a fighter after a few drinks.

Masvidal rose to fame in the UFC after a fantastic 2019, in which he defeated Diaz, Darren Till, and Ben Askren. His success earned him back-to-back fights against then-champion Kamaru Usman in 2020. With this success comes notoriety, so when Masvidal is out and about, it is tough to ignore him. He is happy to take pictures with his fans, but when he is with his family, it can become overwhelming.

“When I’m with my kids, that’s the only time I get overwhelmed,” said Masvidal. “One person has been staring at me the whole time, and then like, ‘Hey man, I’m so sorry, so sorry,’ which you’re not because you’re gonna still ask for it anyways, ‘Can I get a picture?’ And I’m like looking around and I’m like, ‘I got you,’ and then 20 people stand up like, ‘I wasn’t gonna say anything, but if he got a picture, can I get a picture?’ That’s trouble. And my kids are getting crazy, they’re like, ‘Man, I want to spend time with you, what’s going on?’”