Getty Jorge Masvidal, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson & Nate Diaz
MMA superstar Nate Diaz ripped Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s shoe line after Friday’s UFC 279 ceremonial weigh-ins.
Johnson and UFC announced earlier this year that the action movie star and professional wrestler’s “Project Rock” shoe line would be the official shoe combatants would wear during fight week.
Well, Diaz wasn’t a fan of wearing The Rock’s shoes. “These shoes f****** suck,” Diaz said during an interview with ESPN’s Megan Olivi. “Look at these shoes. They make me put this s*** on.”
Diaz then took one of his shoes off and while pointing at it, Diaz said: “F*** these shoes.”
Diaz’s comments about the shoes were at the end of the interview, which didn’t appear in the video ESPN shared on YouTube. But, you can watch Diaz slam the shoes below via the embedded tweet:
nate diaz reacts to the ufc partnership with dwayne the rock johnson’s shoe company. #UFC279
Diaz is scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson in a five-round welterweight main event at UFC 279 on September 10. The event will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Diaz Has Taken Aim at The Rock in the Past, Said He Could Get ‘It Too’
This wasn’t the first time Diaz had choice words aimed at The Rock. When Diaz competed against Jorge Masvidal for the promotion’s “Baddest Motherf*****” title at UFC 244 in November 2019, The Rock was tasked to wrap the belt around the winner.
As history has it, Diaz lost the bout via doctor’s stoppage after the third round concluded due to a cut he sustained over his eye.
During the event’s post-fight press conference, Diaz laid into The Rock, saying he could “get it too.”
“If you’re the baddest motherf*****, you gonna take that as a win?” Diaz said per Sporting News. “And f*** The Rock too. I saw him smiling with Masvidal. He can get it too.
“(The Rock’s) on that side, f*** him,” he continued, pointing to The Rock and Masvidal both living in Miami, Florida. “I’m on the West Coast side. Mike Tyson should have been here anyway. He’s the baddest man on the planet, right? He should have been the one.”
Diaz then lightened up his assault on The Rock.
“I’m too hard on The Rock,” Diaz continued. “You guys caught me at a bad time. The Rock’s cool. I like ‘Ballers’ (Johnson’s HBO show). But he picked the wrong side, so he can get it too. He can get his a** whipped too, straight up. With all due respect, he can get it too.”
Diaz Was Supposed to Fight Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279, Will Now Fight Ferguson
With around 24 hours’ notice, Diaz learned that he would fight Ferguson at UFC 279 instead of Khamzat Chimaev. Diaz and Chimaev were scheduled to fight at welterweight, however “Borz” hit the scale nearly eight pounds overweight, causing the UFC to scrap the contest.
So, Diaz was instead given Ferguson, who made the 171-pound limit for his co-main event clash against Li Jingliang.
Chimaev will remain on the card as well. He was downgraded to the co-main event and will battle Kevin Holland in a five-round catchweight affair.