Getty Nate Diaz
Mixed martial arts superstar Nate Diaz did not take kindly to UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping’s recent remarks.
Bisping shared a video on his YouTube channel discussing Jake Paul’s recent boxing win over ex-UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva. Diaz was in attendance for the event in Glendale, Arizona, and he got into a backstage altercation with Paul’s team ahead of the match.
Diaz has been linked to “The Problem Child” as a potential opponent. However, considering Paul just beat Silva, Bisping said in the video that he didn’t think it’d be a “good idea” for Diaz to meet The Problem Child inside a boxing ring.
“While the majority of Nate Diaz’s fights happened at 155, he was a lightweight then he went up to welterweight, 170-pounds, and he went 5-5,” Bisping said (h/t MMA Fighting). “The only knockout that he got was against Rory Markham in 2010.
“Listen, with boxing gloves on, I don’t think it will be a good idea for Nate Diaz. Nate Diaz was a tremendous mixed martial artist. He beat some phenomenal people, had a tremendous career. He lost some fights and he won a lot of fights. The jiu-jitsu would be gone, the kicking game is gone, the general craftsmanship and the gameplans and the adversity of attacks, punches, kicks, knees, elbows, strangles, chokeholds, triangles, takedowns, you name it.
“That’s what Diaz could do. Those are the advantages he’d have over a Jake Paul.”
Paul Would Be the Bigger Man Inside the Ring & Bisping Said It Wouldn’t ‘Go Very Well’ for Diaz
Paul and “The Spider” both weighed just under the 187-pound cruiserweight limit for their Showtime PPV battle. And since Diaz had never fought above welterweight in the UFC, Bisping shared his skepticism that the beloved combatant could beat the bigger man.
“If he was to fight Jake Paul and at that weight, 200 pounds or 196 pounds, whatever weight they want to come in at, I don’t think it would go very well for Nate Diaz,” Bisping continued. “However, I will say this, I think they would both make a lot of money.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC come back and offer Diaz a mega deal to get that third fight with [Conor] McGregor because come on, everyone wants to see that.”
Diaz competed in the last fight on his UFC deal in September. However, Diaz is likely currently dealing with the UFC’s exclusive negotiation period, which could last three months past his September 10 bout. That means Diaz cannot negotiate with another promoter.
Diaz Ripped Bisping In a Now-Deleted Tweet
Diaz seemingly responded on Tuesday morning to Bisping’s comments. In a now-deleted tweet, Diaz shared a screenshot of Dan Henderson knocking out “The Count” at UFC 100 in 2009.
“The only fight I ever saw by this goofy f*****,” Diaz wrote (h/t BJPenn.com). “Don’t hate me cause you ain’t me MB.”
Henderson’s brutal knockout of Bisping is one of the biggest highlight KO’s in UFC history. The two rematched in 2016 when Bisping was the middleweight champion, and he avenged the loss by beating Henderson via unanimous decision at UFC 204.