UFC president Dana White confirmed on Tuesday that he almost got into a fight with Nate Diaz after the latter claimed he ‘almost beat Dana up’ at a nightclub in 2014.
White didn’t go into specifics but admitted that he and Nate almost came to blows after the two got into a heated argument while drinking at a club.
“Allegedly,” a smiling White said when asked about his near-altercation with Diaz (h/t MMA Fighting). “Allegedly. We were drinking.”
“Does anybody else have any other questions?” White added with a chuckle.
Diaz went into a bit more detail during his interview with ESPN, revealing the two started arguing after Diaz requested more money and better fights.
“I almost beat up Dana White in a club one time here too, you should’ve seen it,” Diaz said with a laugh. “He was talking s***. … You should ask him. He was talking s*** and I was arguing with him. I was mad at him — I shouldn’t have been mad at him, I understand.
“It was a long time ago, when Gilbert [Melendez] did The Ultimate Fighter [20]. … Everybody had gotten off the show and then we went to the club when Dana and them were having a big afterparty, and then Dana’s all [intoxicated]. He’s all, ‘What’s up, motherf*****?’
“I was like, what’s up? And he’s telling me about, ‘What do you want?’ I was like, ‘What the f*** do you think I want? More money and more f****** better fights than everyone here.’ It’s because I was never on the destination [path] for a title though, at the time.”
Diaz got his wish two years later at UFC 196, taking on Conor McGregor on short notice and submitting the Irishman with a rear-naked choke in the second round. The win vaulted Diaz into stardom and saw The Ultimate Fighter 5 winner go from cult hero to overnight superstar.
Diaz returns to action this Saturday at UFC 279 where he takes on surging welterweight Khamzat Chimaev in a five-round, non-title fight main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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