Nate Diaz doesn’t perceive how he received all combined up in some form of heated rivalry with UFC light-weight champion Islam Makhachev.
This previous December on the UFC 311 pre-fight press convention, Diaz and Makhachev had been concerned in a short backstage altercation the place members from their respective groups threw water bottles at one another earlier than safety intervened to make sure the scenario didn’t escalate. Makhachev later claimed that the entire ordeal began with Diaz flipping his crew off together with his center finger after which subsequent factor you understand, water bottles went flying.
Now Diaz has responded and says he didn’t even know Makhachev was with the group that threw a water bottle at him.
“[What the hell is] happening?,” Diaz wrote on Instagram. “I didn’t even know Islam was there. I don’t even know which one he’s. I used to be simply there to nook my boy [Kron Gracie] and these [Ewoks] had been searching for [trouble] threw a bottle at me searching for clout. [What the f*ck] did I do?”
After the incident went public, UFC flyweight contender Brandon Royval truly backed a part of Diaz’s claims after he says he witnessed Makhachev’s teammate Tagir Ulanbekov hearth off the primary bottle of water, which almost hit him.
In the identical interview the place Makhachev addressed the water bottle throwing incident, he additionally stated that he didn’t know why Diaz abruptly had an issue with him after they seemingly had a mutual respect after operating into one another in an elevator at a separate occasion.
“You realize what’s attention-grabbing, possibly 5, six months in the past, I meet Diaz within the elevator within the Wynn Lodge in Las Vegas,” Makhachev stated. “He goes to me and says, ‘Respect, respect, respect.’ However what modified now? Quite a lot of cameras come and at all times folks change.
“We don’t have one thing. If I’ve one thing with him, I can repair it within the Wynn Lodge. However he got here to me and stated ‘Respect’ after which he go. However when digital camera comes, he’s altering. And other people suppose I began this!”
That interplay apparently caught in Makhachev’s head when the water bottle incident occurred however Diaz claims he by no means truly approached the UFC light-weight champion in any elevator a lot much less informed him there was respect between them.
“I by no means noticed this man in an elevator,” Diaz stated. “[What the f*ck?], I assumed spiritual folks didn’t lie. [What the f*ck] is going on? And [what the f*ck] occurred to champ. All you needed to do was say sure champ.”
There’s no telling when Diaz and Makhachev would possibly cross paths once more nevertheless it looks like there’s no love misplaced between these two.
