Nate Diaz: I’m Ready For War, Kill Or Be Killed
It’s been a long road since UFC 196 for Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. The Irishman has gone back to camp with changes in mind, but for Diaz the pressures have been media related. Since defeating the heavy favourite McGregor in March, the Stockton bad boy has experienced a surge in popularity. With his new-found super stardom comes more responsibilities.
Is this what Diaz was hoping for? It’s part of being a big money draw, which he most certainly is now. After 10 years and 25 fights for the UFC, the cult heroes Nick and Nate have only just started receiving their dues. Ahead of UFC 202, the talk has centred around revenge for ‘The Notorious’ or a repeat for Diaz.
Life After UFC 196
During a sit down interview with BT Sports this week, Nate Diaz discussed life after UFC 196 and the rematch at UFC 202. Here are the best bits:
“There’s been a lot of press, it’s been good to get out there and do this stuff. The fight never ended though. They called me three days after the first fight and it was straight back in to training. With all the press and stuff, it feels like the fight hasn’t ended yet. It’s good to let people see what I’m really like, because before people would look at me like I was a maniac.”
“At this stage in my career I don’t have to fight. I just want to do the real big fights, so I can pay bills and take care of stuff outside of fighting. Am I supposed to fight for fun, because I like to hurt people? I don’t think so, I don’t like to hurt people or ruin people’s days. This fight shit is a rough life. I just want to live my life. I’ve been doing it for 25 fights now. I just want to fight for big deals, big paydays.”
Training For The Rematch
“I just do what I do. I got a lot of pro sparring partners from boxing and kickboxing. I got the best Jiu Jitsu guys in the world, I just try to be ready for everything. Ready for good positions, bad positions, I just want to be ready for war. Ready for anything that’s gonna happen, win or lose, kill or be killed. I’m just trying to keep my head on my shoulders.”
“I don’t expect to get knocked out by anybody, but I accept the fact. There’s two options in a fight–you win or you lose. You better think of every way you can win, but more importantly you should think of every way you can lose. You should be prepared so when it does happen you won’t be heart-broken.”
Next Fights
“I’m gonna fight this fight, then whoever wants it, they better be a big fight. People are saying all this shit like ‘oh you lost this fight,’ it’s like fuck that. You fight 25 times in the UFC and then talk. People get to fight me, they get to fight my brother Nick, we’re the big names. If you want to fight me, I don’t want to hear no Twitter call out. You better say my name loud.”
Will Nate Diaz defeat Conor McGregor again? With just a few days left before UFC 202, it’s won’t be long until we find out. How insane would it be if the Irishman returned to featherweight on the back of two losses?
