Nate Diaz: 'Conor McGregor and His Coach Know I Won That Fight'
Nate Diaz: 'Conor McGregor and His Coach Know I Won That Fight'
Nate Diaz still can't believe he didn't have his hand raised in his rematch with Conor McGregor.Diaz lost a majority decision at UFC 202, and told Chael Son
Nate Diaz still can't believe he didn't have his hand raised in his rematch with Conor McGregor.
Diaz lost a majority decision at UFC 202, and told Chael Sonnen on his You're Welcome podcast earlier this week he still believes he won the fight. Sonnen then asked Diaz whether he wanted the rubber match right away with the Irishman.
"I don't know. Do you remember last time they rushed to his house the next morning and said he was all obsessed or whatever?" Diaz said. "I was pretty crazy about it for a couple of days, but it's whatever to me, you know? I won that fight, and I'm not jumping for joy already for round three. I think I beat him twice, so it's 2-0 as far as I'm concerned. It might get made down the road; I don't know.
"I believe they know too, because he's got a smart coach on his hands. Him and his coach know what happened in the fight and they aren't stupid, so I think they are going to do what they can to return to his division and get onto a new stage."
Aug 20, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Nate Diaz (red gloves) competes against Conor McGregor (blue gloves) during UFC 202 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports
Sonnen then proceeded to lay out some alternative plans for Diaz if the third fight with McGregor ends up falling through. The former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger suggested Diaz fight the returning Georges St-Pierre, and Nate agreed--as long as his brother Nick instructs him to.
"Nick is my fearless leader, so I do whatever Nick tells me to do," Diaz said. "But yeah, I don't know what's going on with him right now. I don't know what Nick is doing. I'm just going to enjoy the rest of the summer. Nick is the leader, so if he told me to fight Joe Blowoff, then I'd fight him. I'm a soldier. I'm a soldier, man, and that's the general."
Diaz also talked about whether his lifelong coach, Richard Perez, had been knocking on his door trying to get him back in the gym. Diaz confirmed he had, but for the minute, he was focused on enjoying the rest of the summer.
"Oh yeah, he's nuts," Diaz said. "He's already barking at my door, saying, 'Let's work out. Let's train.' I got to avoid him for a little bit, you know? I'm just going to enjoy this summer and keep doing what I'm doing."
Jan 30, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Nick Diaz at the weigh in for his middleweight bout against Anderson Silva (not pictured) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Sonnen then asked Diaz whether he would be in any shape to take on an Ironman endurance race this summer. The Stockton, California, native implied he could complete one and then went on to detail the sort of triathlon races that he and his brother often compete in.
"Could I? Yes. My time would be horrible though," Diaz said. "I'm not prepared to race no Ironman. I'm not even sure about that. I've not done a full race before, so I'm not sure about the time. I can't even remember because it's been so long.
"I can't be specific on a time until I get out and do one, but I usually do Olympic-distance triathlons, and those are like, [one] mile swim, 32-mile bike ride and a six-mile run. Then the XTR is [one] mile swim, 22-mile bike ride, and that's mountain biking, and then a six-mile run."
Diaz then detailed he and his brother's strengths and weaknesses in the events.
"I've done some quick stuff," Diaz said. "I've done 28 minutes, 27 minutes, 30 minutes. I'm not the fastest swimmer, though. My brother really kills it on the swim. He will get out real quick. It's a little under a mile, but I think he knocked it out in like 24 minutes or something like that. I'd have to look at his times, because I'm more worried about my times than his times."
The conversation then tried to turn again to whether Diaz would be prepared to fight McGregor in Ireland, but Diaz wasn't in the mood for talking about the Irishman.
"I like California," he said.
December 19, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Nate Diaz moves in with a punch against Michael Johnson during UFC Fight Night at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
If the third fight between McGregor and Diaz comes to fruition, the fight will be set up for the first time under the new WME-IMG ownership. Diaz confirmed he had yet to meet the new management, but also mentioned his deals usually went through with Dana White anyway.
"I usually deal with Dana and Lorenzo with my management--I usually get a lot of stuff done with Dana," Diaz said. "There was a lot of friendly stuff going on, but it was hard for me to recognize because I was fighting. I had a lot on [my mind] but I saw there was a bunch of different people around, but I didn't see much because I was more paying attention to the fight.
"I didn't meet the new guys, and I didn't see them or anything. I don't think they were even there. They weren't on the scene. So no, I've not seen anything, but I look forward to meeting them and see[ing] who's doing what and what's what."
Diaz and Sonnen then went back-and-forth over whether Sonnen himself would be returning to the Octagon. After Sonnen had filled Diaz in with the issues he'd been dealing with outside the Octagon of late, Diaz paid a nice tribute to the former UFC middleweight title contender.
"I'm looking forward to seeing Chael P. Sonnen coming back and doing his thing," Diaz said. "That's always entertaining and good. I'm all about Nick Diaz, Chael Sonnen, GSP--big fights, big comebacks and big things happening. But, at the same time, the things I've been seeing lately haven't been too entertaining, so I'm taking a seat back and watching it all go down and I'm not really up in the mix."
Diaz lost a majority decision at UFC 202, and told Chael Sonnen on his You're Welcome podcast earlier this week he still believes he won the fight. Sonnen then asked Diaz whether he wanted the rubber match right away with the Irishman.
"I don't know. Do you remember last time they rushed to his house the next morning and said he was all obsessed or whatever?" Diaz said. "I was pretty crazy about it for a couple of days, but it's whatever to me, you know? I won that fight, and I'm not jumping for joy already for round three. I think I beat him twice, so it's 2-0 as far as I'm concerned. It might get made down the road; I don't know.
"I believe they know too, because he's got a smart coach on his hands. Him and his coach know what happened in the fight and they aren't stupid, so I think they are going to do what they can to return to his division and get onto a new stage."
Aug 20, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Nate Diaz (red gloves) competes against Conor McGregor (blue gloves) during UFC 202 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports
Sonnen then proceeded to lay out some alternative plans for Diaz if the third fight with McGregor ends up falling through. The former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger suggested Diaz fight the returning Georges St-Pierre, and Nate agreed--as long as his brother Nick instructs him to.
"Nick is my fearless leader, so I do whatever Nick tells me to do," Diaz said. "But yeah, I don't know what's going on with him right now. I don't know what Nick is doing. I'm just going to enjoy the rest of the summer. Nick is the leader, so if he told me to fight Joe Blowoff, then I'd fight him. I'm a soldier. I'm a soldier, man, and that's the general."
Diaz also talked about whether his lifelong coach, Richard Perez, had been knocking on his door trying to get him back in the gym. Diaz confirmed he had, but for the minute, he was focused on enjoying the rest of the summer.
"Oh yeah, he's nuts," Diaz said. "He's already barking at my door, saying, 'Let's work out. Let's train.' I got to avoid him for a little bit, you know? I'm just going to enjoy this summer and keep doing what I'm doing."
Jan 30, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Nick Diaz at the weigh in for his middleweight bout against Anderson Silva (not pictured) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Sonnen then asked Diaz whether he would be in any shape to take on an Ironman endurance race this summer. The Stockton, California, native implied he could complete one and then went on to detail the sort of triathlon races that he and his brother often compete in.
"Could I? Yes. My time would be horrible though," Diaz said. "I'm not prepared to race no Ironman. I'm not even sure about that. I've not done a full race before, so I'm not sure about the time. I can't even remember because it's been so long.
"I can't be specific on a time until I get out and do one, but I usually do Olympic-distance triathlons, and those are like, [one] mile swim, 32-mile bike ride and a six-mile run. Then the XTR is [one] mile swim, 22-mile bike ride, and that's mountain biking, and then a six-mile run."
Diaz then detailed he and his brother's strengths and weaknesses in the events.
"I've done some quick stuff," Diaz said. "I've done 28 minutes, 27 minutes, 30 minutes. I'm not the fastest swimmer, though. My brother really kills it on the swim. He will get out real quick. It's a little under a mile, but I think he knocked it out in like 24 minutes or something like that. I'd have to look at his times, because I'm more worried about my times than his times."
The conversation then tried to turn again to whether Diaz would be prepared to fight McGregor in Ireland, but Diaz wasn't in the mood for talking about the Irishman.
"I like California," he said.
December 19, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Nate Diaz moves in with a punch against Michael Johnson during UFC Fight Night at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
If the third fight between McGregor and Diaz comes to fruition, the fight will be set up for the first time under the new WME-IMG ownership. Diaz confirmed he had yet to meet the new management, but also mentioned his deals usually went through with Dana White anyway.
"I usually deal with Dana and Lorenzo with my management--I usually get a lot of stuff done with Dana," Diaz said. "There was a lot of friendly stuff going on, but it was hard for me to recognize because I was fighting. I had a lot on [my mind] but I saw there was a bunch of different people around, but I didn't see much because I was more paying attention to the fight.
"I didn't meet the new guys, and I didn't see them or anything. I don't think they were even there. They weren't on the scene. So no, I've not seen anything, but I look forward to meeting them and see[ing] who's doing what and what's what."
Diaz and Sonnen then went back-and-forth over whether Sonnen himself would be returning to the Octagon. After Sonnen had filled Diaz in with the issues he'd been dealing with outside the Octagon of late, Diaz paid a nice tribute to the former UFC middleweight title contender.
"I'm looking forward to seeing Chael P. Sonnen coming back and doing his thing," Diaz said. "That's always entertaining and good. I'm all about Nick Diaz, Chael Sonnen, GSP--big fights, big comebacks and big things happening. But, at the same time, the things I've been seeing lately haven't been too entertaining, so I'm taking a seat back and watching it all go down and I'm not really up in the mix."