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Chael Sonnen is liking the idea of Nick Diaz stepping in to seek redemption for younger brother Nate against Jorge Masvidal.
On Monday, Nick Diaz went on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show to express some of his thoughts on the “BMF” title fight between Jorge Masvidal and his younger brother Nate. Not only did he stake claim as the original titleholder, he was also slighted by “Gamebred’s” “baptizing” comments on Nate.
The elder Diaz issued an indirect challenge towards Masvidal, seemingly looking to seek redemption for his younger brother. And for ESPN analyst Chael Sonnen, it can actually turn out to be a bigger fight than UFC 244’s headliner.
“We don’t have to get into the X’s and O’s,” Sonnen said on ESPN Radio (via BJPenn.com). “Just for fun right now, I think Nick would be the bigger fight. Don’t forget, I’m not insulting Nate. Nate just sold out Madison Square Garden, had the rocking attendance, had the President in attendance.
“I’m not slighting Nate but don’t you agree with me? I mean come on, there would be something special if big brother stepped in to get redemption for little brother.”
Sonnen is seeing a similarity with the feud between the Shamrock brothers Frank and Ken and former champion Tito Ortiz in the late 90’s through early 2000’s.
“You know what, simple economics. The law of supply and demand,” he explained. “The greatest law in all of economics says that if you don’t have very much Nick and you can get a Nick one time, that that’s more valuable than Nate a third time.
“So I think that it’s great but I also think that you really can’t redo that story. I mean I’d have to go back to what? It was Tito Ortiz that fought Frank Shamrock, so then big brother Ken’s gonna step in and make things right.”
Nick hasn’t fought since 2015 at UFC 183, where he lost to Anderson Silva via decision. He was subsequently suspended after testing positive for cannabis metabolites.