Nick and Nate Diaz are two of the toughest and most respected fighters in UFC history, with the brawling brothers unafraid of anyone – and that includes former undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The unbeaten Russian, who retired after defeating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in 2020, has turned his focus on training fighters rather than competing, but his drive and desire remain as strong as ever.
Diaz, who branded the 29-0 fighter a ‘p****’ in January 2021 has never been one to back down from a fight, having battled it out on the streets of Stockton, California as a child.
The first incident took place at the World Series of Fighting (now the Professional Fighters League) in 2015 when Khabib was watching his brother fight on the same night as Jake Shields, a friend of the Diaz brothers.
Diaz recalled the altercation when asked by journalist and broadcaster Ariel Helwani in October 2019 whether he would be interested in ever fighting UFC lightweight champion Khabib.
“No, I was when it was interesting, now it’s like kicking a dead dog,” he said.
“I’m not into this bully s***, he’s [Khabib] into bullying and stuff, that’s his thing.
“When I ran into him and his team at the World Series, I was standing there watching Jake, my friend, fight. And they took a group picture with me behind them, just to laugh at me, make fun of me.
“[Khabib] is like, ‘Ah, come on, man’ and they’re all laughing, 12 Russian dudes. I slapped him in his face for making fun of me and I’m like, ‘What?’ And he didn’t do nothing.
“I was outside furious,” Diaz added of the 2015 incident. “So I waited for him to come out there and I went to get him again and he ran off.
“I shouldn’t have done that. It was reckless, it was stupid. I was mad, but he was picking on me. So now he’s trying to act like ‘Mr Make It Right’. ‘I’m Mr Good, this guy’s a piece of s***, I don’t need this trash talk’.
“Whatever, you were going to pick on me…trying to act like the victim, that Conor [McGregor] was picking on him,” he added of the infamous brawl that erupted after the Russian’s fight with the Irishman in 2018.
Nick, who has also fought in the UFC, was filmed throwing a drink in the direction of Khabib before security arrived and duly kicked the brothers out, but tempers flared once again at UFC 239.
Despite all the action on that card in July 2019 (which saw Jorge Masvidal and Amanda Nunes record massive knockout wins) the two men nearly came to blows.
“Those two were within two rows of each other and then they started to get into a fight and we broke it up and we got it handled,” UFC president Dana White told BT Sport.
When asked if he knew what was said, White said: “I’m sure a lot of bad things were said. I’m not sure exactly … I’m sure it was not good.”
On Saturday, Nate fought his last fight on his UFC contract, beating Tony Ferguson in the main event at UFC 279 before walking away to start his own promotion.
He was supposed to face Khamzat Chimaev, but the Russian failed to make weight, coming in an astonishing 7.5Ibs over, which provided Diaz another opportunity to take a shot at Khabib.
“Tony’s been around a long time, we should have fought a long time ago,” Diaz said ahead of the event before bringing up the numerous failed attempts of the UFC to make Ferguson vs Khabib.
“Khabib’s a b**** a** was afraid of him just like this b**** a** motherf***** was afraid of me yesterday,” he added about Chimaev.
“We punched his b**** a** in the back here and now he doesn’t make weight.
“You guys already know what it is. Real Gs come from California, America, motherf*****.”
And after beating Ferguson, White, who became his former boss, summed it up by saying: “No matter what Nate does from here on out, this is his house.”
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