Eight Crazy Brawls Involving The Diaz Brothers

UFC stars Nick and Nate Diaz are two of the most unique characters in the sport, and part of that is undoubtedly due to their ability to raise hell at the drop of a hat.

While they’ve delivered some incredible fights in the sport of mixed martial arts over the years, they are just as notorious for throwing down outside the confines of a sanctioned bout.

It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s inside the cage, outside the cage, backstage, back home, on the backside of the moon, the Diaz brothers have an uncanny knack for getting into situations that require them to let their fists fly.

In this article we’ll take a closer look at 8 infamous examples of the Diaz brothers wreaking havoc as only they can, so strap on your riot gear and let’s get to it!

In-Cage Battle With KJ Noons & His Father

Not only did the aftermath of ‘EliteXC: Return Of The King’ in June of 2008 produce one of the Diaz brothers most infamous brawls, it also coined a catchphrase that’s stuck with them ever since.

Nick Diaz had fought KJ Noons for the lightweight title a few months earlier at ‘EliteXC: Renegade’, but the fight had come to a premature end due to Diaz suffering a cut above his eye that forced an early doctor’s stoppage.

So, after both Noons and Diaz picked up wins at ‘Return Of The King’ in Hawaii, the promoters thought it’d be a good idea to have Diaz, flanked by his brother Nate, come into the cage to call out the champion for a rematch.

EliteXC in-cage interviewer Bill Goldberg first spoke to Noons about the potential fight, but he sidestepped the question, instead asking his hometown fans if they wanted to see the rematch, leading to a chorus of boos.

Then it was Diaz’s turn, as he uttered the immortal words, “Don’t be scared, homey!”

Meanwhile, Nate was involved in a heated exchange of words with Noons father Karl was also in the cage, then gave him the old one-finger salute. Noons’ father lunged at the brothers and Nate reportedly threw a water bottle at him, leading to a brief melee in the cage.

Security staff got involved to keep the two rival parties from beating the crap out of each other, and the Diaz brothers were quickly ushered back up the ramp and out of the arena, though not before turning back to flip off both Noons, his father, and even the fans.

It’d actually be well over two years later in the Strikeforce organization before Diaz and Noons were finally able to settle the score in the cage, with Diaz comfortably defeated his rival by unanimous decision.

Nick Diaz Fighting Joe Riggs At A Hospital

The wildest Nick Diaz fight story of all-time surely has to be the time he fought Joe ‘Diesel’ Riggs at a hospital after they had already fought earlier that same night in the Octagon!

It all went down at UFC 57 in February of 2006, with Riggs emerging as the winner by unanimous decision in their fight.

It was a hard fought encounter, and so both men were transported to a local hospital for treatment after the show.

Needless to say they soon bumped into each other and Diaz began talking trash, despite the fact that Riggs was on a gurney and had an IV in his arm at the time.

Diaz then moved to another section of the hospital, but when Riggs headed his way he decided there was no time like the present to indulge in an impromptu rematch.

Diaz confronted his rival, and a fight broke out, with Diaz dropping ‘Diesel’ to one knee with a right hook.

The two fighters stories differ on what happened next, with Riggs claiming that he got Diaz in a thai clinch and landed knees to his face, which left him bloodied up, while Diaz claims that Riggs attempted a single leg, but wasn’t able to get him down and so he was able to continue hitting him with punches.

Either way, apparently Nick’s brother Nate refused to intervene despite Riggs pleas for him to calm his brother down, and it was only when two security guards showed up with tazers that their bloody brawl ended.

Strikeforce Nashville Brawl with Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller

The ‘pièce de résistance of the Diaz in-cage brawls came at the Strikeforce: Nashville event on April 17th of 2010.

This event was a major deal for the Strikeforce organization, as they were still in the early stages of a live broadcast deal with CBS, who were dipping their toe into the MMA waters at the time.

Almost three million viewers tuned in to watch the main event that night, which saw Jake Shields successfully defend his middleweight title against Dan Henderson.

As long time friends and teammates with Shields, the Diaz brothers reacted angrily when Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller unexpectedly gatecrashed his post-fight interview to demand a rematch.

Needless to say, it wasn’t long before fists were flying, with Nick leading the charge, while Nate was close behind.

With others members of ‘The ‘Skrap Pack’ also getting involved the scene inside the cage was complete chaos, and led to ‘Mayhem’ being taken down, with Nick landing ground and pound on top as Nate laid in with a few kicks for good measure.

”Ladies and Gentlemen, sometimes these things happen in MMA,” announcer Gus Johnson infamously stated on the mic.

”A lot of testosterone in the cage. Gentlemen, we’re on national television!”

The brawl subsided soon after and as the sea of bodies parted it became clear that nobody had been badly injured, but the incident proved to be a massive blow for Strikeforce, with NBC opting to pull the plug on airing any future events from the promotion.

Nick Diaz Fighting Two Brothers In Road Rage Incident

There’s nowhere on earth that Nick Diaz can’t find some way to get himself into a fist fight, even when he’s out riding his bike.

A classic Diaz tale is that one day he was cycling in a residential neighborhood when a car started honking at him and an argument broke out.

That led to Diaz getting into a fight with the two brothers in the vehicle, who he describes as being, “two big-ass Fedor’s,” weighing 240lbs each.

Diaz slipped due to the fact he was wearing bicycle shoes, and the brothers started attacking him. However, Diaz was able to use a heel hook to take one of them down and started punching him.

The other brother grabbed him and between the two they were able to hold Diaz down at a grassy area near the car. Eventually they started to run out of steam, and Diaz tried to calm the situation doing, saying, “alright, it’s cool, it’s cool.”

This is Nick Diaz we’re talking about though, so of course he wasn’t done yet, and as soon as he got back to his feet he started laying into one of the brothers again.

Bizarrely, the other brother then pulls out a pin (pen??) and starts stabbing Diaz with it, and then they run back to their car.

”I got my ass beat, but they got f*cked up way worse than me, dude,” Diaz recalled. “They were in, like, life trauma trouble!

I just got…well, I got stabbed…so, that was pretty bad too.”

As if the story wasn’t already pure Diaz gold, he then went on to reveal that he’s since made up with the two brothers, and their younger sibling, Manny ‘Bam Bam’ Lara – a 250lb heavyweight MMA fighter – now trains at his gym!

Backstage Altercations With Diego Sanchez & Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller

There’s no shortage of stories of Nick Diaz getting into trouble backstage at events.

For instance, Diego Sanchez recalls that in the months prior to their fight at The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale in 2005, Diaz had discovered his email address and started harassing him.

That led to bad blood between the two, and on the night of the fight, Sanchez claimed that Diaz was so fired up that he couldn’t even wait to get into the Octagon before getting into it with him.

Diaz apparently started cursing at Sanchez in his locker-room before the fight, then removed one of his shoes and threw it at him.

Only Sanchez’s coach, Greg Jackson intervening prevented the two from fighting right there and then.

Diaz had a similar altercation with Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller backstage at a Strikeforce show in 2010 as bad blood between the two continued to boil after their in-cage brawl at the event in Nashville earlier that year.

Again there was a heated exchange of words between the two rivals, but this time it was a bottle of water that Diaz hurled at his rival before they were separated.

Running Battles With Khabib Nurmagomedov & Crew

Some lightweight fighters may be doing their best to try to avoid having to fight dominant Russian star Khabib Nurmagomedov, but that’s definitely not the case when it comes to Nate Diaz.

In fact, Diaz showed he was even willing to fight him any place, any time by engaging in a brawl with the Russian fighter while both were cage-side at the WSOF 22 event in August of 2015.

The two men had been on feuding on Twitter for months beforehand, and so the fact that both men were in attendance at the Las Vegas show was always going to be a recipe for disaster.

The two were reported to have engaged in a war of words during the show, and then it turned physical, with WSOF Vice-President Ali Abdel-Aziz claiming that he’d seen Diaz throw a punch, while the fighter himself later claimed he’d actually slapped his Russian rival in the face.

Others from the two fighters entourages also became involved and Diaz was ushered away, but then Nick also became involved, throwing a beer at Nurmagomedov, which led to more angry pushing and shoving, before he too was escorted out of the arena.

Later there were chaotic scenes at a bar in the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, as an all-out brawl broke out between the fighters and their teammates, with Nate Diaz narrowly missing a stool that had been thrown at him at one point.

Diaz was escorted away in handcuffs by the police afterwards, but no charges were filed against him or anybody else involved.

However, both Diaz brothers were subsequently banned for life from attending WSOF events.

Nate Diaz Scuffle With Conor McGregor At UFC 196 Presser

Tensions were running high ahead of Nate Diaz’s short notice fight with Conor McGregor at the blockbuster UFC 196 event in March of this year, and that almost led to a fight between them before they even had a chance to step into the Octagon together.

Right before the customary staredown took place on stage, McGregor began taunting Diaz’s teammates, telling Jake Shields that, “I’d strangle you in a heartbeat.”

Sensing that trouble was brewing, Nick Diaz was caught on camera telling his brother Nate that, “If he even touches you, it’s on.”

Soon afterwards, Diaz and McGregor squared up for the cameras, and after a tense stand-off, McGregor angrily punched Diaz’s closed fist away from him.

The only thing that prevented a full on fist fight breaking out there and then was the fact that Dana White was standing between them at the time, and as Diaz tried to circle around him to get at McGregor, the UFC President was able to grab a hold of him and move him away to one side, while a security guard did likewise with McGregor.

In seconds the stage was filled with UFC security and officials who kept the likes of Nick Diaz and Jake Shields from getting involved and escalating the situation even further.

So, Diaz didn’t get an opportunity to lay his hands on McGregor that day, but that Saturday night he handed the Irish superstar his first ever loss in the Octagon, hurting him with punches on the feet in the second round before sealing the deal with a rear-naked choke on the mat.

Nate Diaz Backstage Fight With Jason Guida

While attending UFC 199 in June of this year, Nate Diaz suddenly found himself caught up in an unexpected brawl backstage, not long after Clay Guida lost to Brian Ortega in the Octagon.

Emotions were running high as Guida and his team went backstage, and they happened to run into Diaz, who was coming out of the bathroom.

According to Guida’s coach, Justin Buchholz, the fighter told Diaz, “I’m gonna f*ck you up again,” a reference to a split decision win he held over the Stockton native from back in 2009.

Buchholz claims that Diaz initially seemed confused by the unexpected hostility towards him, but then Guida’s 285lb older brother Jason, a former heavyweight fighter, suddenly charged at him.

Diaz got the considerably bigger Guida in a clinch and apparently they scuffled for a good 30-40 seconds before a sea of UFC officials managed to intervene and separate them.

Buchholz then handed Diaz back his t-shirt and claims that the fighter simply strolled back into the arena as if nothing had happened, and soon after was seen on camera as his rematch with Conor McGregor was officially announced on the pay-per-view broadcast.