Chael Sonnen was one of the first fighters in the UFC to use trash talk to his advantage effectively. ‘The Bad Guy’ consistently used his skills on the mic to get under his opponent’s skin and gain the upper hand inside the octagon. Well, the next generation of fighters was quick to notice this quirk, as Nate Diaz recently credited Sonnen for being the inspiration behind his trash-talking abilities.
A few days before his fight against Jorge Masvidal, Diaz appeared on the ‘All the Smoke’ podcast, during which he was asked about his trash-talking and which fighter did it best in the UFC. To this, Diaz instantly revealed Sonnen as his inspiration, although he claimed there was a difference between them, saying,
“Chael Sonnen, Chael Sonnen is hilarious. That’s how I got. Who else talks trash? I am different than him though. I am just talking shit when I am fighting and I am for real about it. Chael Sonnen be talking hella s*it and he is hilarious.”
The younger Diaz brother is not someone who deliberately indulges in trash talk to get a psychological advantage like Conor McGregor. However, his witty replies often end up enraging his opponents. More importantly, a lot of trash talk that Diaz engages in is inside the octagon while the fight is going on.
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While the Stockton native constantly talks to his opponents during a fight, he claimed to have picked up the habit after watching his brother do the same during street fights. Needless to say, Diaz will be using this aggressively when he steps into the boxing ring against Jorge Masvidal.
A closer look at Diaz vs Masvidal
Although the fight between Diaz and Masvidal was originally supposed to take place at the start of June 2024, it was pushed back since it clashed with a UFC PPV event. Still, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the bout as it will be a rematch of the BMF title fight that took place in November 2019.
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While the fight seems evenly matched between two excellent boxers on paper, the power advantage lies with Masvidal. Diaz is more of a volume puncher who will be banking on his gas tank to secure a win in the later rounds. However, this strategy leaves him open to a lot of damage and it will be interesting to see how the first few rounds play out.
