Islam Makhachev came into the spotlight for UFC 311, but this time, it wasn’t because of him headlining the event against Arman Tsarukyan. Instead, it was the lightweight champion’s altercation with Nate Diaz at the backstage of the UFC 311 press conference that garnered all the attention. After hurling heated words from a distance, Diaz threw a bottle at the champ. This gave rise to a bit of unrest, which was quickly thawed by the security. 4 days after the backstage scuffle, Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren weighed in on the incident.
On 10th December 2024, DC and Askren sat down to discuss the Diaz camp’s scuffle with the lightweight champion. But the former ONE welterweight champion decided to take a dig at Nate Diaz. He said, “He fights with everybody except him and Nate don’t get in the ring really anymore.” It has been more than 2 years since the Stockton native stepped into the Octagon to compete ever since he completed his UFC contract in 2022. On the other hand, his brother, ‘The Diablo’, pulled out of the fight against Vicente Luque after rescheduling the fight a few times.
Well, the Diaz brothers never really stood in the good graces of the Dagestani team. Back in 2015, Nate Diaz reportedly slapped Khabib Nurmagomedov. Needless to say, this was the moment that gave birth to the beef between the Diaz brothers and the entire Dagestani team. Weighing in on the recent scuffle, coach Javier Mendez said, “I don’t think anything of it, you know, but my Dagestanis, they won’t start it. But they definitely will swarm in on him, all of them. They are all that way. They’re a band of brothers; you attack one, you attack them all, and they don’t – they’re not going to take kindly to anything like that”.
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However, when Cormier interacted with Chael Sonnen on their YouTube talk show, Cormier expressed his worries regarding the heat between Nate Diaz and Islam Makhachev. Diaz is already out of the UFC, while Makhachev is the reigning champion. There is no way they could resolve their differences inside the Octagon. So, what is DC worrying about?
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Daniel Cormier expresses his worries regarding the altercation between Nate Diaz and Islam Makhachev
As the MMA analysts talked about Diaz and Makhachev throwing bottles at each other, one question left both Sonnen and Cormier wondering. It was the question about Diaz’s presence at an event that wouldn’t even feature him. While ‘The American Gangster’ expressed his desire to know about the backstory of the scuffle, Daniel Cormier revealed his worries.
The former heavyweight champion said, “I just think that they just think so differently, right? Like with the Russians, they don’t smoke, they don’t drink. They think all these things are just so bad behavior. Diaz is just openly like who he is, which is why people love him. I worry, right? About people, like Nate, usually has an entourage. Islam usually has an entourage. That’s the only thing that concerns me.” The Dagestani team shares a brotherhood. When Diaz came in to confront Makhachev, the entirety of the team stood in defense of the champ. And Diaz? He was apparently all alone.
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Nevertheless, Chael Sonnen came to the conclusion that Makhachev and Diaz wanted to fight each other. But there was a problem with that, as well. “I don’t know what their beef is but they do wanna fight each other, which is a little bit of a problem in one regard – Islam’s a 155-pounder and Nate is no longer a 155-pounder,” claimed ‘The Bad Guy’. And we as fans, can only wait for the Stockton natives or the Dagestanis to say something about it.
Do you believe Diaz and Makhachev should settle their scores inside the MMA cage? What do you think of Askren’s remarks about the Diaz brothers? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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Is the Diaz-Makhachev feud a clash of cultures or just another UFC publicity stunt?
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