Nate Diaz and Islam Makhachev beefing right before UFC 310 looks cool and makes up for a few good stories but doesn’t make any sense. The two compete in different weight classes and their primes are removed by almost a decade. So why did the younger Diaz brother throw a water bottle at Makhachev and the Russian entourage? UFC veteran Chael Sonnen wondered as much.
His Good Guy/Bad Guy co-host Daniel Cormier believes he has the answer.
As if to hazard a guess, DC claims that the groups continue to have these scuffles because they are just fundamentally different. Things that Diaz is defined by are seen as gross eccentricities by the Russians.
“I just think that they just think so differently. They are Russian. They don’t smoke. They don’t drink. They think all these things are just bad behavior. Diaz is just openly… who he is. Which is why people love him.”
Even though he doesn’t condone it, DC actually seemed impressed by Diaz standing toe to toe with the Russian camp. Reflecting on the general perception that Diaz only acts ‘gangsta’ when he has his boys and the whole West Coast entourage following him around, DC claims that Diaz is the same without them.
“He was by himself. He was by himself, dude. That is Nate Diaz. He doesn’t care. I buy it now. I believe it. I didn’t know. I didn’t know if it was all for show. That guy was there by himself with all those Russian dudes there. And if they had at all got through to him, they would have jumped him. But he doesn’t care. Nate Diaz still threw that water bottle.”
However, the longer the feud lasts, the more it worries Cormier; not for the fighters themselves but the civilians around them.
“Nate usually has an entourage. Islam usually has an entourage. That’s the only thing that concerns me.”
Now, that’s a valid concern since both parties have been known to be involved in feuds outside the octagon as well. Diaz and his boys have been habitual bottle throwers, having done so previously to Conor McGregor at UFC 302. It ended up being a farcial riot with McGregor throwing some racially inappropriate slang and then following it up with throwing some actual energy drinks cans.
Six years ago today, chaos erupted at the UFC 202 press conference between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz pic.twitter.com/I7xIVjeBym
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) August 17, 2022
Makhachev and his buddies, on the other hand, jumped the octagon and fought McGregor and his entire crew in the aftermath of UFC 229 when Khabib Nurmagomedov beat the Irishman after months of provocation.
Come to think of it, McGregor is the common thread here But maybe he is the problem.
Pointless feud, claims Cormier
But none of it still explains the beef between Makhachev and Diaz’s teams. Even DC, who believes it’s based on common differences, doesn’t actually see a point to any of this!
“It’s always interesting. I just prefer an interesting rival when I can see some payoff. There’s just no payoff to this. Like what are we building this story for, when we don’t get the conclusion”
While Diaz has competed at 155 lbs, he has primarily been a welterweight, competing at 170 lbs. At 39, having practically retired, he is not going to cut about 30 lbs and show up all skin and bones to fight a world champion in his prime.
It’s just not going to happen. Even if the fight made them both far richer than they already were, there are too many hurdles to ensure this will be a gimmick fight if it ever happens. Even if Diaz agrees to it, Makhchev has too much many problems to deal with, to even consider it.
He already has to fight Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311, then there’s a rematch with Charles Oliveira on the horizon. And if manages to get through that, Ilia Topuria just announced his intention to move to lightweight! So the next couple of years are going to be a rough few years for the Dagestani champion.
