Fans may know him for his “gangster” image, but Nick Diaz’s supposed real persona that’s said to be the opposite of his reputation is beginning to surface. “Big John” McCarthy, for example, believes that Diaz, whom he described as a “good guy” who will “give you the shirt off his back,” is mostly misperceived because of his public persona.
Women’s MMA pioneer Gina Carano is saying the same thing about Diaz. In her recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Carano recalled a time during their early EliteXC days when being involved with the sport as a woman was deemed as taboo.
“We were sitting there before our fight, having our post-weigh-in dinner, and he was like, ‘I gotta tell you, I don’t really like women fighting,’” Carano told Rogan. “I was like, ‘That’s OK. Maybe you’re just a little old-fashioned.’ And I was like, ‘Do you think my dad likes this? Do you think anybody in my family likes me fighting?’
“He was like, ‘Old-fashioned. OK. So I’m just old-fashioned?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, you might be a little old-fashioned.’ And then he was, like, pulling out my chair and opening my door.’ He was so sweet. He doesn’t need to be told it’s OK. You don’t have to like it.”
The 40-year-old Carano did pave the way for the sport’s female superstars like Ronda Rousey, who Diaz ended up being a friend and big supporter of throughout her MMA career.
Both Carano and Rousey have been in the MMA headlines as of late because of a buzz behind a potential fight.
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