The press conference for UFC 311 didn’t go as one would imagine. While everyone expected to see Islam Makhachev, no one expected Nate Diaz to be there and see both sides get into an altercation. Makhachev and Diaz were seen barking from a distance before the latter spat “pull up”. The Stockton fighter then threw a water bottle at the Russian and that’s when chaos started. While the security regained control of the pandemonium, many wondered what had caused it. Was it just bad blood or something more?
MMA analysts Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen appeared surprised by Diaz’s involvement in a UFC event since he has been not associated with Dana White’s promotion since late 2022. During a discussion between the two on their ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ show, a perplexed Cormier questioned, “Nate Diaz and team Makhachev throwing bottles at each other backstage before the weigh-ins. Nate Diaz doesn’t even fight in the UFC anymore. What’s happening here?”
Sonnen responded: “Very interesting. I did not understand that he was there with Kron [Gracie]. That actually was a clue for me. So Daniel, that video is going around. I get sent it, I watch it. I’m familiar with it. That was like a couple of years ago and it was with Chimaev and they were backstage. I didn’t realize this was brand new and then, it wasn’t with Chimaev. It was a different group of Dagestanis and the intended target was Islam.”
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“I didn’t understand that because I thought the same thing as you. ‘What would Nate be doing here? Nate’s not with the UFC anymore’. And I don’t know what their beef is but they do want to fight each other, which is a little bit of a problem in one regard. Islam is a 155-pounder. Nate is no longer a 155-pounder. I mean, there are things that you can work through. It just seems like everyone likes Islam and everyone likes Nate. So when you get these two guys that everyone else likes, why don’t they like each other? I would really like to know the backstory.”
Well, could the backstory lead us to Khabib Nurmagomedov? Nurmagomedov and Nate Diaz got into an altercation during UFC 239 (2019) inside the T-Mobile Arena. It took place when the Stockton Slugger was making his way to his seat but crossed paths with ‘The Eagle’. Then, let us not forget that they also had a violent altercation in 2015 at a World Series of Fighting event. Diaz alleged that he slapped Nurmagomedov, and this was an incident where even Nick Diaz was involved.
And as we know, when one fighter is involved in a brawl, their teams get involved too. Could this be the reason why Islam Makhachev dislikes Diaz?
However, Daniel Cormier was worried about something: “I just think that they just think so differently, right? Like with the Russians, they don’t smoke, they don’t drink. They think all these things are just so bad behavior. Diaz is just openly like who he is, which is why people love him. I worry, right? About people, like Nate, usually has an entourage. Islam usually has an entourage. That’s the only thing that concerns me.”
via Imago
“But what I did like to see though, honestly, because there has been this idea that Nate Diaz acts that way when he has an entourage. He was by himself… That is Nate Diaz. He don’t care. He doesn’t care, I buy it now. I believe it. I didn’t know. I didn’t know if it was for a show. He was by himself with all those Russian dudes. And if they would have all got to him, they would have jumped him. But he don’t care.”
Here’s the thing: Nate Diaz loves throwing drinks at people. In 2016, he hurled energy drink cans at Conor McGregor during their press conference for UFC 202. In 2022, the UFC 279 press conference had to be canceled after chaos ensued. Diaz thought fighter-turned-manager Tiki Ghosn was part of Khamzat Chimaev’s team. So the Stockton native’s camp started throwing water bottles at Ghosn, who had intervened in Chimaev and Kevin Holland’s brawl. This sparked a melee.
Nate Diaz also threw a bottle at a reality star…Remember Nate Diaz choking out Logan Paul‘s lookalike in 2023? Before the incident that night, Diaz was out with his group to witness some boxing action and attended an MF & DAZN X Series 6 crossover boxing event, when he bumped into former football player-turned-reality star Chase DeMoor. However, the 28-year-old was asking for it, and he might have gotten his due.
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In the many videos that surfaced online, DeMoor was seen heckling the MMA icon. As we all know, Nate Diaz does not take too much time to respond, and he did that by turning around, as DeMoor was seated behind him, picking his target and throwing a water bottle at DeMoor.
And that was just the beginning as the reality star tried to respond and throw a folding chair, but the security team got things somewhat under control. Nevertheless, Diaz and DeMoor continued to shout and threaten each other. Three days after the incident, DeMoor addressed it:
“This message is for Nate Diaz and all his boys. As you can see, you guys finally put some damage on me. I didn’t take any damage in any of my boxing matches, and you guys had to jump me in New Orleans.”
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“All of you guys who are in the UFC and MMA fighters, and I had to fight your whole team off. You and your crew are the softest boys. All those kids on your team, I don’t know how they’re in the UFC or how they have any sort of winning record. You guys have pillows for hands, soft toilet paper for hands,” he stated before continuing to insult Diaz and his team.
Such incidents have happened quite a bit in the UFC. Dana White issued a response to all these incidents going down recently, including Merab Dvalishvili‘s scuffle with a fan. While claiming, “We do our best,” the 55-year-old sounded off on the fighters for their behavior.
Source : EssentiallySports