Nate Diaz UFC 279 Interview: Fighting Khamzat Chimaev & what the future looks like | ESPN MMA

one and only nadia's how's it feel to be in vegas how does it feel to be one week away from the fight it feels like it has many of times yeah still it still feels like when you were 16 and you were doing this with your brother and he was sending you in the nick diaz army like now you're mega fight pay-per-view celebrities coming to las vegas but it still feels the same feels like a fight week of hell just like always yeah so why are you still doing it it's what i knew what's been happening it don't feel right if it's not happening what about just being in vegas again i couldn't believe it had been uh six years six years since you've been here the last time we see it was ew and conor and the water bottle incident i was my last fight here in vegas or last night somebody eli just told me that uh i didn't even think about it i've been here for a bunch of other people's fights on my team and just for watching so i didn't even notice because we fought in l.a arizona and madison square garden new york yeah madison square and gardening baby what are you talking about madison square garden um obviously a lot of talk about who this is criminal crime they said creme de la creme is it uh i mean i've i would look at something like this you probably don't but uh poetic that like you won the ultimate fighter down to the palms you've had some of the biggest moments of your career in las vegas and now final fight on the ufc contract at t-mobile does it feel right yeah remember when i donald truni uh here on new year's and uh who fought on the main event was brock lesnar and uh and uh that was a brock lesnar card it was brock lesnar lesnar and over him i think i thought that who won i thought it was gray maynard frankie edgar my name is weren't you at the press conference we're trying to remember my questions remember i pushed bruh uh pushed cerrone and smacked his hat and then brock lesnar and then we're sitting there acting all coons you uh do you think about some of the moments of your ufc career now that it is like out of at a crossroads you don't know what's going to happen with you i just did when you mentioned it but normally normally you're not me i will my whole life's in this and i've been in it the whole time so it doesn't never go away it's just what it is kind of yeah i guess it's on everything feels like the other day so it all feels the same throughout your career it feels like you've been doing the same thing really even though you've had ups and downs and you've had high moments you've had contracts things you've had things going on with the ufc it just feels like like it's kind of been steady the whole time yeah well with the high moments you could expect the low moments come in with the low moments you can expect to hide moments coming come in so you don't ever stop regardless and it all feels like since i was 17 18 everything feels like within the same month but it's over a longer period time than that you've had you've always had you've you've had it for a long time in your vlog and it's called road to war why did you call it road to war then they used to do road to the octagon or something mm-hmm like dr gotten this is warfare i've been in it the whole time and every time it's like it's a whole war the whole life just dealing dealing with the whole situation and when i'm not in war somebody else is and the war don't never stop so it's just like uh if i'm gonna be making up some type of vlog to whatever the hell i'm doing it's like bro bro the octagons no matter if they're the octagon they're not involved mm-hmm it's a little warm you feel like you're going to war this weekend i've been feeling like i'm going to war for a long time who does it feel like you're going to war with this week the organization the the the everybody everything fans haters lovers everything is is that part a little unique like feeling that you are it's it's an ideas versus the world in this fight does that feel a little bit different than the ones that's previous same as everything why do you think it's hamza shamaya and you're the last fight of your ufc contract you threw a lot of names out over the last twelve months why do you think it's hanzo this weekend when i was when i was an ultimate fighter i thought um judge pogba was a man and b.j penn was a man these guys weren't like like it was when you when you would watch when you would see like if you walked into like a mall and you saw like these are like who can i even say like if you saw like robert de niro and like al pacino and like the most leonardo capricorn like the most famous actors you could think of adam sandler if you just saw these guys and and then you just would see like hoist crazy or fedora malenco or or be japan or something you wouldn't even notice robert de niro you know what i'm saying it's like you're like these are these guys are like the dude that's bj penn right there and that's that's that fedor molingo horse gracie handle gracie hicks and gracie now that's like that's that's what it is that's like the top of the top that's the best but those are the most famous people you could think of and then when i when i put when i went when i went on to my fighter and i find all the people and i was like one fight after another fight after another fight more than everybody i fight back to back to back to back i never had an objective like bj penn was a champion i had never had no no even thought it wasn't even a consideration it wasn't even talked about to even fight be japan like i didn't even think about that it was like everybody else and there would be japan and uh throughout time everybody just got like and then there's new champions after after everybody after that was didn't even matter after that who the hell was the champion after that and then frankie edgar i think beat him mm-hmm with that for the championship and then he went and i was friend with frankie edgar so i had no objective of finding frank gager and i had this championship goal that everybody has i need to be the world champion i wasn't playing i wasn't wrestling like no jock wrestler no funny i need to get gold and be number one like that all i almost after was making sure that i was whipping ass the hardest and being the dopest i could be for me for my own personal from my homeboys at home for everybody uh i seen the dopest people like i still got homeboys at home are harder than any champion you know and uh so i didn't have any uh i didn't have any like like championship object i was a champion you know i'm saying as long as i did their job how it was supposed to be done how it's supposed to be right i'd go home with my homeboys and be like y'all saw how i did that that's how you do that and then that's how you would do that he would do that's how everybody in my circle would do it and so uh that was my only goal so as far as i'm concerned i was the champion the whole time and uh the guys out here the whole time playing champion you got camaro and who's that who's the champion right now leon edwards uh besides i'm talking about before i were two who's that 155 aloe vera i've rather got it that's what i'm telling them but uh i got it like i never had you guys are champions but because you guys had this weird little goal and you followed the letter and they they they um they write the uh what's the word for they they they they couldn't control the scenario they couldn't they they're they're like they're saying this guy and that guy and uh this guy's the best and this guy's the best and then they're the best because they said the ufc being the machine say they're the best and um i know who the best is you know hexy and gracie and joyce gracie and enzo and fedor you see ninja who are so many like these other guys and it was like bj penn and they're like oh you want the bottom like no these are the reasons why i'm even doing what i'm doing like i have no interest in even talking about it so it's a new day and age where everybody's like and then come on i just was like oh i'm the i'm the man oh whoa i do i did this and i did that and say you're still being their champion you know what i'm saying you're still being a champion like all these other fighters i'm like you're being their champion and you're fine who they tell you to tell who they tell you to fight and then you're being their champion and i'm like i ain't nobody champion you know what i'm saying i'm my own champion and i'm fighting all these guys if if you guys are the champion i'm then i just say that in an interview like where are you going to be in three years if you have a belt right now where you're going to be in three years you're being knocked out on your face and on your way down here and out the door but i've been in i've been the longest one in the game since i got here 15 years ago right 15 16 years ago and uh been the most active fighter until until one point i was the most active fighter and after i fought like my fourth or fifth fight i think it was junior essential or alvin robertson then i thought josh knew the top five top ten fighter after that i think is my fifth fight i think i got like 29 fights in ufc uh after that i fought all top 10 fighters all the way up and then i fought rory markham at a heavier way and he was in a top 10 fighter and then after that i fought top 10 fighters all the way up till now top five top ten and um and uh ain't no one's killing me you know what i'm saying no one's taking me out they said lots of josh thompson or whatever but that's cool he'd been here a lot he was in the ufc before me too at least and he was top five and he was top five at the time and since then it's been top top all the way nobody and all these guys could be fought all top 20 live 15 and after top 10 he's been fighting relevant fighters and then three top and the champion he retires and he's out and you get camaro he gets in he's acting like the go i'm the goal and he like fights three or four title defenses and then he's um he slept on his ass by a guy who i just basically beat who i was cut and injured coming into the fight so i just coasted through that fight was the easiest fight i ever had and now he's the champion and uh and uh but shout out to leon for getting the job done i'm not trying to knock leon you know i'm saying congratulations but uh he ain't over here acting like camaro who's i don't even know who he fought and then um i'm the champion of the whole ufc all together and i don't give up and what they got me doing right now is they're acting like i called for this fight which i didn't call for and i don't want and didn't want and still don't want but i don't give a go fight anybody but uh pressure's on him he better finish me because he's the next killer in town you know what i'm saying pressure's on me because i better not get killed by the next killer best in town because they're saying he's the best in town if i whip his ass he's they're going to say oh he wasn't the best in town but uh if if if uh they're not gonna let me go i asked for 20 fights 10 fights 15 fights for the top five guys again like i have for the last 15. nobody's fought the top 10 guys in the last 15 years but me nobody nobody nobody know what i'm saying i'm the greatest fighter to ever stepped into the ufc octagon and still am and still planning on being for the next 15 years but uh you know what i'm saying i'm like you this guy this fight's not even about this guy it's about making this guy it's about making this right and i'm like okay well you guys aren't going to let me go because i'm the best fighter here and you're not going to let me to go unless it's off of somebody i got to make somebody for you well all right you well you're welcome let's make you you're welcome ufc you're welcome you're welcome dubai you're welcome all you in your country you know what i'm saying you're welcome and uh this is just my halftime show i'm just getting started so that's where i'm with that and what i'm saying is i'm going to i'm going to now i'm a gangster like we ain't even talking about all that it's like you want why are you even talking to me why are you even talking about me why do you have even disrespecting and making me be like their fall guy or something him them everybody and uh this is just this is just a start for me this whole fight is not brought to you by the ufc this fight is brought to you by real fight incorporated straight the up because it's not do you see putting on nate diaz versus whatever name is it's it's you and this versus me get the loss and let me tell you something let's say i do lose and get my ass whipped by this who you guys are saying is the best thing to have ever happened coming coming up right and he might be but you got a little overshoot and then you're just shooting them out and you shoot them out on me because i'm going to get it out the loudest so they're using me to get it out there so um if that's how it's going to be let's just say i get my ass stomped out right let's just say that happens for a second and everybody's saying that everybody's saying that too and everybody who is saying that especially the fighters and the media and the fighters who are saying oh you know you know what i'm saying for one you know all together and uh where's your facts you fought burns dog you fought burns you know what i'm saying whatever if i get my ass whipped guess what still got a free free agent out there who's now only who might have just got a dashboard but he's still only the number two fighter in the world because he just the champion of the watch away division and he's losing to the guy who are you claiming is the next biggest best thing in the in the thing so get it done and you better get it done because pressure's on you i don't give a i feel like like you you're um you're like are you even talking my name though that's what i'm saying i'm like i wasn't even trying to fight bj pan nothing like i'm gonna get gangsta like why are you done wait talking to me like that one reason why you fight it's because of me and most of people and i ain't demanding respect this fight game i don't need no respect you know i'm saying this forever so when he says he's a fan of yours or not or whatever but you're a fan of whatever it's not even about that he said what he had to say because he felt like he needed to say that because he felt like because he knows if you're any one if you're any piece of a fighter which a lot of people weren't you know i'm saying you're over here playing champion i'm like you just did what the ufc told you to do remember when kamala commodities mine is my artistry my brother but if uh if um if if if what do you say if if if um they if they if they want to meet up me and him me and a lot of son in the fight and they're going to pass a lot we're going to have to step in the back room and talk i'm like well first of all you ain't friend for that sorry you just said yeah we might have to step and rap and then you're going to stepping back why are you doing the interview talking about how if they offer us enough money they want to step in the back room and talk you if you're asking permission from the ufc you know champion i never asked for nothing i demanded and took what i'm going to take and i steal him because i've been with too many asses by too many to be asking anybody for anything you feel like there's a way around this so this is just how it's how it has to be like this is business you understand the business of this game as well as any fighter i've ever talked to like it's different when you're the guy that they're trying to use to build this other guy but do you feel like like like i get it i'm still gonna be mad but i get it this is the business this is the business i'm in or do you feel like it could be different that they couldn't that's why i said okay i'm all fight whoever fight whoever you want me to fight burns is like bernie was like they asked about oh do you hear my fight huh you know and i'm like i'm i need that oh yeah it makes no sense but i'll watch it it makes no sense i'm like what do you mean it makes no sense he's like oh cuz he's ranked number i'm like these told you those are the numbers so you are like it makes no sense but you'll watch it i made this for fight you stupid i told him you can go find a number five top five guy and then i'll fight him if you want me to fight him since you're not letting me out to fight ferguson or luke or who else did i try to fight dustin poirier poirier chandler the best of the bet whoever you could get artistania uh niganu give me anybody just let me get the going oh ain't gonna be nobody unless you build this guy for us because you gotta deal with fight island that ain't got nothing doing me now i but if you want out you have to go finish our deal so i'm making big money deals for everybody else i don't even want no money from you i just want to be find somebody that uh all i want to do is fight somebody that everything's gonna win my ass well now obviously they they made it that way because they know what i'm looking for so i did all this too that's why i said i fight francis and you've gone to an artist on it because like those aren't the guys that uh these aren't the i'm like trying to uh fight at all like these are the guys the best guys in the ufc right now that everybody's projecting is the best guys yeah like we're not gonna do that you're gonna we'll give you this guy so i gotta build this guy and finish i'm locking up deals for everybody making everybody all this money mm-hmm but these fighters don't understand that having me or not esonian gonna fight then uh we gotta talk about the background fake ass that's why you got slept by leon edwards because you're over here play fine dog this ain't even for real i'm for real in the fight game and they don't ever stop and it won't ever stop i felt i'm the best fighter to ever be in the ufc ever are you carrying all this except besides my brother and you want to know why my brother's the best father to ever because of everything besides that and the same thing happened to him they never wanted him to even be in a position to fight for a title like i never was in a position on fighter 10 except for henderson then we got a big deal but but i wasn't there well i'm not their ideal color or whatever not even the color but like uh the the model they're like i'm not the guy that looks which is fine with me i don't even want to be the model because it's sushma or something i'm not here to knock him either a bunch of different people over the years yeah yeah just the buttoned up and uh and um but my brothers and they never wanted him there and he was mad about it and i understood but i also didn't understand but now i really understand but you got all these guys who claim to be goats who who does it go right now they were claiming who's mine who just got knocked out by the guy who i just uh um like pound for pound right now that's what you're talking about yeah top five who's the top yeah it's like him israel alexander volkonovsky charles oliveira these are the guys those are the guys and i'll fight all of them in five seconds so so besides that with all due respect to them but but but then i'm trying to make a point if if they're the goats because as far as i'm concerned i don't give a i am you know what i'm saying besides my brother and and let's say i'm not right but if those guys are the goats because i was made as a fighter i was made by my brother every every way i thought everything he did if he ran i ran if i didn't push her he didn't push i didn't put if he whipped the ass i would ask whatever happened happened but if those guys are the goats top for even or or though jesus anderson just pee fedor uh jon jones who jon jones john i had a question i had a question mm-hmm i don't care it's silver too like i mean with all the respect to them because they are granted anything but if you do steroids that's just completely i mean if you're coming like you're you know what i'm saying if you're doing it out loud that's different like hey we're all shooting steroids and then whip everybody's like well because i'm willing to fight on steroids i don't give a but but uh but if you're doing it on the hi like let's all just talk about it you do steroids i'll smoke weed and let's get in there and squat i don't go but your sneak steroid and then you're considered you're out of the question the whole legacy is gone and done with so but but by all these guys you consider the goats if you gather all the goats i don't know because what i'm saying i know arguably i'm in there too with a big portion of people out there in the world you know what i'm saying but uh but the way that you see uh makes it it's like it's all by numbers and you're not even involved you're not involved it's like yeah right yeah in my 15 years but uh but but if you go to all the goats then where's your guy because my brother did what he did and i'm doing what i'm doing and i'm made by nick where's your guy who's mom you don't even have a guy too we both there you know what i'm saying like no one if you're mr goat then make a go you know what i'm saying so i have no i don't prove it yeah do you like the idea that even though you don't agree with with how why this fight is together and the motives that they have and everything else is plain as day do you like the idea that i get to go ruin it all on saturday like i get to go ruin it all that's everybody else's talk and whatever they think about it i know what i'm going to do and what i got to do and i whatever whatever be yeah good if i ruin it haha that's what you get playing with me for too long what do you think is going to be the first thing that goes through dana white's head when you win this fight on saturday i don't know i'm on day in the white so i do it's all love i understand business it's all good with me me and dan always got along with everything too yeah yeah and i'm not real inking real real fighting because i'm like against anybody i'm saying i'm not going anywhere just doing anything i have no plan for what my next movie is if something happens in this fight i might just have to resign to get a rematch you know what i'm saying if i don't whip this ass right now then like come on regardless of what what happens though and say i leave or do whatever the best fighters are in the ufc and have been for a long time and will be for a long time i'm sure doesn't mean the real it's happening in the ufc you know what i'm saying but but i'm but no matter what i do i'm i'm gonna be in the ufc well and you say that i want to know was there a moment that you you like because i know you guys were negotiating a lot you guys were negotiating about another contract was there a moment that you were close and you were just like nah i can't do it like what what was the story there like how close did you get to re-signing the new deal with the ufc and then ultimately like what was that moment that was like nah i can't do it nowhere near nowhere near it we one time one time i said one time i said all right look if i'm gonna if i'm gonna resign since you get a soul uh a aggressive admit what if there's so much if there's so one time because they're adamant if they're so adamant about it and they kept coming back with me and every time i was like no they'd come back with more yeah and come back with more and more and they were like this before ain't taking these guys ain't taking no for an answer and they're like he's not taking this for another all right well you want me in then me and my 10 guys were all coming i need contract for all my guys and it was for the the and then after after i said it and it was going the deal was getting worked on i was saying they're going to sign all my friends and i have to fight here really yeah and then they started coming back well well this guy could do the ultimate contender and this guy could do i'm like everybody's in or i'm out and then they're like well and they're doing the up and down where who can do what and what could do who and i was like oh everybody's not in right now off of it then no that's all i got to go because i'm calling my own shot i'm not going to ask in the back room if me and not sonia got to talk about it that's whack yeah like ain't no one's telling me what to do ever and nobody has the whole time i was an ultimate fighter and um i was an ultimate fighter and they were like the street fight happened and the ultimate fighter when i was in there the backyard fight and i was instigating it out of it because it's hilarious these guys were talking the whole time i was like whip his ass what the are you talking about and then he yelled at everybody but mika they knew i was smoking the whole place but everybody they're like nate danny's out here he's mad and i'm all right cool i'll be out i just woke up and i'm like all right and then they're knocking on the door i'm like hold on let me put my pants on and i'm like getting ready to go out there and see what's going on and uh and then and then i'm like getting my shoes on trying to wake up and then dana white because it's been like 10 minutes now dana white's not gonna say hey nate uh can you get out here i'm about to talk to everybody i like all right cool about that got my head on i walked down i walked out and all the ultimate fighters in their indians fell on the ground like like they're in school ready to listen to the teacher and i was like what the is going on out here and then uh he's like and they did a speech where people don't think we're animals because we're falling asleep and they're like all sitting there all in trouble and just like laughing like are you kidding me we're in a fight house and you guys are all sitting here acting like you're in trouble yeah this is ridiculous and i was like i ain't in trouble i'm like getting sold in the background like yeah right there i was it was comedy i was like you guys are all in trouble because of the big street fight that i helped instigate last night you guys are forgot me send me home i miss people at home mm-hmm so that's how that's what happened with um from there on out no one ever tell me what to do yeah and i almost beat up dana white in a club one time here too you should have seen it did he tell you about it no you tell me yeah yeah yeah you should ask him he was attacking any other arguments with him i was mad at him i shouldn't have been mad at him i understand but a long time ago when was uh gilbert did the ultimate fighter with um pettis right yeah at that when i think when the girls all got out the show rose rose won the thing and yeah everybody had got out the show and then we went to the club yeah with dana and they were having a big after party and the dinner was all he's off battle and she's off he's like he's like he was like uh he's like what's up you know i was like the ufc i wanted to add here he's like what's up i was like what's up and he's telling me about um what do you want well i like what the i want more money and more and better fights than everyone here you can it's because i was never not a destination for a title though at the time i understand everybody's got this little mission but what the hell do you think's kept me here so long people go up and they try to fight for the title they fight for the title they either win it or lose it say they win they win two or three fights or four fights think they're the best thing over they lose they try to make comebacks they lose one they win one they lose one then they're gone yeah everybody's got a five year career in the ufc four years seven eight nine max 12 yeah but it's like my my my my career was based on my fights were based on going in there not being a whipping the most ass you can whip the hardest you can do it the tightest you could do it mm-hmm and then carry on with your day and then come back for another one later and that's what you're looking for with real link like you're looking for mindset the realest dopest you could ever see i don't care if you're a champion and you're fighting from boeing i fight for the ufc for the people yeah and now you're just this boring iclc fighter i'd rather not you know i'm saying you should have worked on a computer somewhere you nerd you know you know what i'm saying i'd rather like whip baths and be like what that's how you do this what's up and then and that's what people don't even realize like people wouldn't even go to don't even know but they don't they they never minify they go to a fight and then they sit there and they're watching fighting they get bored they start talking to friends they're on their phone and they're like they didn't even know what they they were coming to see the firefights they saw were at parties where people were all pissed and fighting each other squabbing and rolling out and it was like that was insane they think they're going for a fight but you're going for a grappling wrestling kiss ass match and everybody it's that's not what i'm ever you know what i'm saying i remember finding the wc like one of my first or second fights and i had this game plan to be like hit and move and do this and take down and and like 10 seconds went in it felt like it was five minutes in felt like it was forever and i'm like and somebody's like boo i like what swung started squabbling this dude got taken down because i but i think i refused to be lame yeah yeah so this was a great interview brad i have to go it was i'll let you go man thank you so much for the time good luck man thank you very much i'll see you next time thanks for watching espn on youtube for live streaming sports and premium content subscribe to espn plus

Channel: ESPN MMA

Views: 2,112,779

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Id: tecPzsis2jg

Length: 33min 48sec (2028 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 06 2022