Nate Diaz would probably be the last person you would expect to take Conor McGregor’s side after the embarrassing mayhem that broke out on Thursday, but Diaz has a long history with people on both sides of the confrontation.
All indications are that McGregor and his entourage vandalized a UFC bus outside the Barclays Center in response to Khabib Nurmagomedov confronting Artem Lobov, McGregor’s SBG Ireland teammate, at the fighters’ hotel earlier in the week. After the incident, Diaz shared his thoughts on Twitter and mocked Khabib for getting “punked.”
He shouldn't have been trying to punk his boy when he was alone, like a bully. Then he expects not to get rolled on fukn rookie..
And then stay on the bus
haha u guys got punked ….— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) April 5, 2018
I allready slapped and punked both these guys and they teams though so that's none of my buisness
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) April 5, 2018
As Ryan Harkness of MMMA Mania reminds us, Khabib and his team tried to get into a brawl with Diaz and his brother following a World Series of Fighting event in 2015.
Diaz has not fought since he lost to McGregor at UFC 202 in March 2016. That was his second fight against McGregor, and fans may remember how McGregor threw full water bottles and energy drink cans at Diaz’s crew when they interrupted his press conference before the bout.
Diaz has since made it clear that he dislikes both McGregor and UFC president Dana White by taunting them on social media, so it’s surprising that he was bordering on defending McGregor over Thursday’s incident, which left Michael Chiesa with several cuts on his face and Ray Borg with particles of glass in his eyes.
McGregor turned himself into authorities and is facing some serious charges.
