In the world of combat sports, there are few fighters as enigmatic and captivating as Nate Diaz. Recently, Fight Hype had the chance to sit down with Diaz and delve into his views on various topics.
“Nate, you’ve had a complex relationship with Conor McGregor. Rivals, sometimes friendly – it’s a unique dynamic. What did you make of Conor saying nice things about you and ridiculing Jake?”
Diaz shrugged, with his characteristic nonchalance. “I don’t think that was for me or anything,” he said, his tone indifferent. “I think that’s just what he does.”
The Controversy Surrounding the BMF Title
The discussion shifted to the BMF title, a contentious subject where Diaz naturally has strong feelings. “I know you feel a claim to the BMF title, given the controversial ending to your fight,”
His response? A definitive no. “Hey man, Gaethje, Poirier, those guys… they don’t fit the description. The champions right now are all kind of lame. I mean, Jon Jones aside, everybody’s kind of… there’s nobody entertaining to watch.”
According to Diaz, he was the one doing all the heavy lifting in terms of promotion and bringing attention to fights. “I might as well be doing this out on my own. I thought about it years ago, but now they got a whole belt made up, and all the guys that criticized it at the start are now happily running around with it. They’re all dorks.”
The Big Conor vs. Chandler Question
“And who do you think will win between Conor and Chandler?”
“Chandler is a nice guy, but he’s gonna gas. He’s not gonna win,” Diaz responded candidly. “But, I don’t think they’re gonna fight.”
Diaz is skeptical about the alleged fight, seeing it as part of a setup and expressing doubt about the likelihood of it happening. “Do you think they’re gonna fight?” he asked, reflecting the question back.
The State of the Boxing Landscape
He spoke candidly about the current landscape of combat sports, expressing dissatisfaction with the lack of worthy opponents. He touched upon his break after the fight with Conor. “When I fought Conor and didn’t fight for three years, it’s not because I was waiting. I was waiting for someone to do something cool. There was nobody worth fighting.”
According to Diaz, only when Jorge Masvidal knocked out Darren Till, was there anything “cool” happening in the sport that piqued his interest. “That’s the only thing cool that happened the whole time I was gone. I had to come back, make a belt, and then there was nothing cool really happening since then too.”
The Freedom in Self-Promotion
The interview shifted gears to Diaz’s perspective on promoting himself. “Just about your own promotion and doing your own thing, is there a sense of freedom with that?”
“Yeah, I remember my whole career, I was wondering why can’t I fight this guy, why can’t I do this, that, and I didn’t like being controlled,” Diaz replied. “But all that came with fighting more than anybody else. I was more active than everybody else.”
For Diaz, carving his own path in the boxing landscape involves asserting control over his career and not becoming what he terms a “slave fighter”. “Now it’s better to do it on my own,” he concludes, indicating a desire to continue forging his own path in the world of boxing.
