Joe Rogan Names Nate Diaz As UFC’s Most Underappreciated Superstar

This past weekend (Sat. August 17, 2019) gave mixed martial arts (MMA) fans a whole lot to talk about.

UFC 241 took place live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. In the main event of the night, Stipe Miocic became just the second-ever man to defeat Daniel Cormier in MMA competition when he finished “DC” in the fourth round via TKO. With the win, Miocic regained the UFC heavyweight championship.

In the co-main event of the night, Nate Diaz returned to action at welterweight, where he defeated ex-lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis via unanimous decision. After the fight, Diaz called out Jorge Masvidal for what would be an amazing clash of fan-favorites. Masvidal was actually in attendance for the contest, and could be seen with a huge smile on his face in the crowd.

And, of course, Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa put on a war at middleweight, which saw the latter emerge victorious by way of a controversial unanimous decision. One man who was cageside for the entire night was longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan. Rogan took to Instagram to release a lengthy statement on the UFC 241 PPV. Most notably, he commented on Diaz, who he dubbed as the promotion’s most “under appreciated super star.”

“What a crazy night! The @yoelromeromma vs @borrachinhamma lived up to the hype! Just an absolutely insane fight! The shots @yoelromeromma is able to endure seriously defy logic. The man is made out of some other worldly material. It was a crazy close fight that could have gone either way. Many people I spoke to thought Yoel won. I will have to watch it again and try to score it myself. Amazing fight either way. 

“I’m glad @natediaz209 is getting the love and respect he deserves. I’ve been saying for years he’s the most under appreciated super star in the UFC roster. The roar when that man walked into the arena was second to none, and the fight was excellent. Congrats to the GOAT heavyweight @stipemiocic for regaining his crown and cementing his legacy as a legend!

“Some people were confused as to why I interviewed DC after the fight because I’ve publicly stated that I don’t think it’s a good idea to interview fighters after they’ve been KO’ed. I think most of what happened to DC was those brutal body shots, and although Stipe dropped him with head shots he was never out cold, and seemed clear headed after he stood up and the results were announced to the crowd and Stipe got the belt given to him.

“The UFC asked for an interview, and I asked DC if he was ok with it, and he said, Yes. I think interviewing fighters after a brutal loss is kinda sketchy, but I was also thinking that it’s possible that this may be the last time we see DC in the octagon. I love DC, and I would never want to put him in a bad position, but I made a judgment call and felt this would be alright.

“Whatever he decides to do from here on out the man is a future hall of famer and one of the best to ever do it. It will be very interesting to see what he decides to do from here out. The undercard has some amazing fights too. Just a great fight night overall! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.”

What do you think about Rogan naming Diaz as the UFC’s most underappreciated star?