Conor McGregor is backing his old UFC rival Nate Diaz to his first boxing win.
Diaz was dropped and outpointed by Jake Paul in his squared circle debut last year, now he’s set to box Jorge Masvidal at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Saturday night.
Masvidal became the inaugural BMF champion when he beat Diaz in 2019Credit: UFC
The former MMA fighters first fought at UFC 244 five years ago, with Masvidal coming out on top and winning the BMF (Baddest Motherf***er) belt.
However, that fight ended inconclusively when Diaz got cut and was pulled out by a cageside doctor after just three rounds of action.
McGregor thinks things will be different when they rematch under boxing rules and has put a massive six-figure bet on Diaz getting the job done.
‘Notorious’ explained his prediction on social media hours before the fight got underway.
“I’ve decided to put $500,000 on Diaz to win tonight’s boxing match,” McGregor tweeted.
“Range, form, experience, solely hands being used, I can’t see Masvidal causing any problems to Nate in a boxing ring whatsoever.
“They are both little play around dips***s in a fight, play around bollox, but I feel Nate does him in EASY here for real.
“$500k gets me back $1,625,000 all in.”
There’s an underlying respect between McGregor and DiazCredit: Getty – Contributor
But they haven’t always seen eye to eyeCredit: GETTY
McGregor has been keeping himself busy by betting during his injury layoff.
The former dual-weight UFC champion backed Cristiano Ronaldo to be the top scorer at Euro 2024, but Portugal got eliminated at the quarter-final stage without ‘CR7’ netting at all.
Another outright bet on Spain is in much better shape. McGregor would win over $1million if Luis de la Fuente Castillo’s team go all the way as 11/1 underdogs.
The Irishman was supposed to make his eagerly anticipated comeback after three years out injured on June 29, but he pulled out of his fight with Michael Chandler due to a broken toe.
It’s hoped their welterweight bout will be rebooked for another date in 2024.