FEATURE
DIAZ ARMY
Nate Diaz is loved by Drake, slapped Dana White and Khabib, smokes joints and handed Conor McGregor his first UFC loss
On a typically balmy winter’s eve in Orlando, Florida, Nate Diaz delivered one of the most succinct, yet savage, soliloquies in MMA history to drastically alter the face of the UFC.
It was not planned, he did not know of the impact it would have in years to come, but the perennial lightweight contender was about to change his life forever.
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The transcript of said monologue contains so many expletives that simply typing it out would leave your screen resembling a constellation of asterisks. But he called out the biggest superstar in world sport at the time, Conor McGregor, and seized his moment.
Diaz was always lurking underneath the surface of the mainstream, misunderstood and uncompromising, yet ready to be cast as the antihero MMA so desperately needed.
Yet before he toppled McGregor and established himself as a pay-per-view star and UFC legend, the cult status of Nate Diaz was long established amongst MMA hardcores.
A fighter’s fighter who remained unflinching in the face of regimented rules, Diaz is as real as they come.
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Born and raised in a one-storey house just north of Stockton, Diaz had toughness instilled in him from day one. The city has historically dealt with a high violent crime rate and is one of the largest U.S. cities to ever declare bankruptcy.
Although he refused to fall into the cliché of saying he was from a ‘tough area, the 209 is renowned as being a gritty part of the world.
UFC commentator Jon Anik even has the Stockton area code tattooed on his arm after an ill-advised bet against Diaz.
And he regrets betting against the Stockton-native to this very day.
“That was the last time I have publicly given a fight prediction,” he said on Fight Night Extra on talkSPORT 2. “It was probably the hottest the water has been for me as a UFC employee.
“I’m a radio guy at my core, this is not the first tattoo bet I had done on the podcast, I thought it would be a fun bit.
“Obviously once it registered on Nathan’s radar during fight week, I needed to do a bit of trouble shooting to make him know it came from a good place.
“Anyone who has followed me historically knew that Nick Diaz had long been my favourite fighter and this was a tattoo that I wanted.”
When Nate was 13, big brother Nick began to train to fight. Naturally, the youngest followed his brother and showed a penchant for boxing, but his heart belonged to jiu-jitsu.
He stopped going to high school, started selling marijuana and kept his social circle closed off and small.
Fighting became a way of life thanks to his brother, who was making waves in Strikeforce and then the UFC, but it took that night in Las Vegas against McGregor for it all to come to fruition.
Almost a year on from being cut from the organisation for an insipid performance against Rafael dos Anjos, he choked out McGregor in the second round and made him look human.
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Just as he had stood next to Joe Rogan in Florida and called his shot perfectly, Diaz then stood next to the colourful commentator once again and said simply, ‘I’m not surprised mother f*****s’.
The words were immortalised onto a mural in his hometown which depicted a bloodied Diaz celebrating his win. Just months later, he was with Dana White and UFC chief Lorenzo Fertitta negotiating a seven-figure contract for the rematch.
Despite the millions which followed, Diaz has remained true to himself, to the city he hails from and to the team who brought him here. Under the tutelage of Cesar Gracie, he has forged a career as one of the toughest to ever step into the Octagon.
Yet it is not an act, as many have found out in the past. White himself has been on the receiving end of the famous ‘Stockton Slap’, while former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov also copped some flak from Diaz in public.
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Diaz is an icon in and outside of the cage, regardless of whether or not he has a fight booked. His reluctance to follow rules (or bend them slightly like smoking a joint at a public workout) only serve to endear him further.
Even global superstar Drake is a huge Nate Diaz fan, agreeing with Ariel Helwani on Instagram that the 36-year-old is a 'superstar' and 'must-see TV'.
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Taking a fight against one of the best welterweights in the world in the shape of Leon Edwards, after an 18-month absence no less, typifies his ‘kill or be killed’ character.
And when the slaps fly and Nate Diaz makes the walk in front of a sold out crowd, there are seldom few places better to be for an MMA fan.
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