MALAN NOT STUCK IN MIDDLE
Masvidal is banking on a repeat with cut-up Diaz
JORGE MASVIDAL insists he will rematch with Nate Diaz following the premature end to their BMF title fight.
‘Gamebred’ defeated the Ultimate Fighter season five winner via a thirdround TKO last Sunday in the main event of UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
A horrific cut on Diaz’s right eyebrow forced the cage-side doctor to stop the fight before the start of the fourth round.
Masvidal, 34, is eager to rematch the Stockton slugger but admits he doesn’t know when they’ll cross paths again.
“Are we going to rematch tomorrow or next week? I don’t know,” said the Cuban-American.
“But it will happen at some point. I’m open to the money and he’s a money fight.
“If Canelo (boxer Saul Alvarez) wants to get his ass kicked, I’ll take that fight. I’m just here to get the biggest cheques possible.
“But Nate is in the future for a fact. If we’re doing it the next year or the year after that, but it’s going to happen.” Fan favourite Masvidal believes the doctor’s decision to stop the fight robbed him of another highlight-reel finish, adding: “As far as painting my Picasso, I almost got to do it.”
Despite being up on judges’ scorecards before the bout was waved off, Masvidal reckons his 35th professional victory has been tainted. The Miami DAWID MALAN has lifted the lid on his decision to join Yorkshire in a bid to make himself an England regular across three formats.
The former Middlesex captain, 32, has left the club after 13 years at Lord’s during which time he played 15 Tests, an ODI and seven T20s for England without managing to make himself indispensable in any of them. His time as captain coincided with the arrival of Stuart Law as head coach and it is fair to say that the two men didn’t exactly have the most communicative of relationships.
Law is a strong Aussie character who is tasked with returning the club back to the County Championship Division One but left Malan on the outside of the plan and “banging his head against the wall”. “I just needed a mauler said: “I don’t want nothing to take my greatness, to say some guy tripped on a pebble and that’s how I beat him. That’s not me.
“I want to end them, I want to send them off to another dimension. I respect the dude but that’s the type of artwork I like to do. I didn’t get him on this one.” Victory over Diaz was fresh challenge,” said Malan (left). “I’ve been captain of Middlesex for two years and I’ve been banging my head against a wall for a wee while.
“Middlesex have been fantastic to me. They’ve looked after me like a family. I just felt it was the right time for me to move and to look to challenge myself.
“The new coach has come in but it frustrated me in the year – I didn’t really know what was (inset) Masvidal’s third win in seven months and has made him the front-runner to win the Fighter of the Year award for 2019.
And the American Top Team star has vowed to carry his rich vein of form into the new year, saying: “I had a good run in 2019, but it’s going to be better in 2020. I guarantee you that.” going on and what the plans were and so on.
“I found out after the season that his plan is to move in the right direction, the same direction, but I didn’t know during the year what was going on.
“Yorkshire seem like a team that really want to win trophies and that’s the ambition.
“I don’t want to finish my career just plodding along in county cricket.
“I still want to play all three formats for England.”