Din Thomas sees Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry as added value for Moist Valuable Promotions’ debut MMA event.
The card is headlined by the return of women’s MMA pioneers Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano, who square off May 16 at Intuit Dome, Inglewood, Calif., in a fight that streams on Netflix. Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou battles Philipe Lins in a heavyweight co-headliner.
But with Rousey and Carano inactive for years, and Ngannou a massive favorite against Lins, Thomas believes Diaz vs. Perry is the fight that will intrigue many fans the most.
“It legitimizes the card in a way, to the point where you go, ‘OK, it’s not just a circus,'” Thomas told MMA Junkie. “The other fights are cool. Francis is going to do his thing and Philipe, too. Again, he’s another friend of mine, I’ve worked with him in the past, and I’m so happy to see him hopefully make some money off of this, but this legitimizes it in terms of OK, this is what some fight fans of the current day want to see because Mike Perry has been active. And any time you can get a Diaz brother inside any type of environment fighting, we want to see that.”
Perry has opened up as a sizable favorite over Diaz, but Thomas disagrees.
“Nate Diaz has a style that’s perfect for this type of situation,” Thomas said. “The Diaz brothers style is an old-school style. It’s a generation I come from, and these guys will fight no weight class, no time limit. I think five rounds suits him. I think that Nate has the ability to drown Mike Perry. If Mike Perry can’t put him away early, which is going to be tough, because Nate is so durable.
“We don’t know what he’s got left, but I’m assuming he’s still got something left in him. He looked good in his last fight, and we saw him against Tony Ferguson, and he looked great in that. He’s looked good in the streets in the fights, but I think Nate has the ability to take Mike Perry in deep waters and possibly get him lost a bit. I’m predicting Nate Diaz to probably get it done later in the fight.”
To hear more from Thomas, check out his complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
