UFC welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal is banking on Nick Diaz beating Robbie Lawler despite the former being inactive for a very long time.

Nick Diaz is finally making his UFC return after a six-year hiatus to face no. 15 welterweight contender Robbie Lawler at UFC 266.

Both Diaz and Lawler are looking to bounce back as the pair is coming off consecutive losses under the UFC banner.

Sharing an interesting take on the fight, Jorge Masvidal admitted that he’s not sure about what to expect. However, “Gamebred” is certain Lawler isn’t the same competitive fighter “four years ago.”

“[I’m] very interested in this outcome, of course,” Masvidal said in a recent Q&A session on his YouTube channel. “[I] love Robbie Lawler. [But] I don’t think he’s the same fighter that he was four years ago. I haven’t seen Nick Diaz fight in eight years, so this fight to me is very, like – I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Further assessing the two veteran UFC fighters, Masvidal revealed that if he was to bet on it, he’ll put his “money” on Diaz as he sees the 38-year-old will not be hindered by the so-called “ring rust.”

“It’s not that ring rust is everything, but eight years is a lot of time to be sitting on the bench,” he pointed out. “So I want to say that Robbie hasn’t been looking like himself, he hasn’t been looking the greatest in his fights with – this is a tough one to call for me. But if I was going to put money on it, I’d probably lean toward Nick.”

Diaz vs. Lawler 2 is an undercard bout in the stacked UFC 266 main card happening on Sept. 26.