9 years in the business. 19 wins, 10 losses. In 29 fights, Nate Diaz has fought the who’s who of the divisions. Never the one to step down from a dog-fight. He fills for fights in when others wouldn’t and always puts on a show for the fans to enjoy. Going to war every time, for almost a decade, Stockton’s own feels his biggest victory in recent times over Featherweight Champ, Connor McGregor, was completely downplayed, instead making the fight all about ‘McGregor’s loss’ rather than ‘Nate’s win’. The younger Diaz explains how the world would have reacted had he lost against the Irishman.
“I feel like, honest, I feel like the UFC wants to weed me the f**k out of this position,” Diaz told ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to say that. Sorry. I feel like a lot of people are coming at me now. I see them making a lot of excuses for [McGregor], and I think it’s kind of ridiculous.
“I don’t think it’s just the UFC. It’s everybody. People are saying, ‘Oh, [McGregor] is great, he’s accepted the loss so well.’ If I would have lost, people would be saying, ‘piece of s**t shouldn’t have accepted the fight.’ I don’t mean to be bitter, but there are a lot of excuses being made for this guy. He’s talking about winning the first round. There are five rounds in a fight. Who gives a s**t if you won a round? You lost.”
Believing that he was successful for most of the fight, McGregor expressed interest in a possible rematch against Nate Diaz. Maybe this time he hopes to fight Nate in the Lightweight Division instead where the size disparity is less.
On the other hand Nate seems interested in a rematch against the one he filled in for, and also lost against, Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos. Heck at this point, Nate is ready to fight anyone. Even Welterweight Champ and face re-arranger, Robbie Lawler.
“I’m thinking probably the lightweight title fight, whatever is biggest,” Diaz said. “The biggest thing with Lawler and GSP — I would have been all about those fights and I am, but at the same time, my brother [Nick] is coming back and those are his fights. Those are Nick Diaz fights. I’m not trying to step on his shoes. We’ll see how things play out. As far as rematches go, I lost close decisions and never got a rematch.
“I’m not asking for anything. I’m demanding more than everybody. I want more than everybody, straight up. Money talks. I want the biggest fight. Whoever I’ve got to fight — the biggest show, biggest payday — that’s what I want.”
Nate might have a point. But if the two did actually rematch at Lightweight, would Diaz put on another Stockton Slap clinic on the Irishman?