Alex Pereira’s first UFC title win was almost overshadowed by Nate Diaz’s antics outside Madison Square Garden.
Pereira will challenge Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320 this Saturday, marking the Brazilian’s eighth title fight in the promotion less than four years after debuting.
‘Poatan’ reeled off three wins to earn his first shot at gold in late 2022. Pereira came from behind to beat Israel Adesanya at UFC 281, a pay-per-view staged at the iconic MSG.
As is always the case for the UFC’s annual visit to the venue, plenty of big names attended the high-profile card in New York City, including Diaz. And when the Stockton star is in town, there is always the possibility of something going down…
Nate Diaz slapped Dillon Danis’ teammate during near-brawl after Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira
Nate Diaz has a lengthy list of altercations outside the Octagon and ring. Among those to take place in the last few years was his near-brawl outside MSG after attending UFC 281.
Footage after Pereira’s title win in the main event showed Diaz exchanging words with Conor McGregor’s teammate, Dillon Danis, and manager, Audie Attar.
Things almost boiled over when Diaz delivered a ‘Stockton slap’ to one of Danis’ teammates after flipping him off in the tense stand-off.
Like the ex-UFC star, Danis is also no stranger to altercations. In addition to a more recent scuffle with YouTube star KSI, Danis was targeted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in an attack that started the infamous UFC 229 brawl in 2018.
After the UFC 281 scuffle, the former Bellator fighter firmly placed the blame at Diaz’s door.
“So they come and Nate is just looking at me and I’m like, ‘What’s up?’ And then his boy is like, ‘F— you, man.’ (This is) inside the arena…they’re all kind of, like, punch drunk…and he just throws his beer on me,” Danis said on The MMA Hour regarding his first clash with Diaz’s team at UFC 281.
“The night is over and we go outside…I’m talking to Audie, my back is turned towards the subway station and I’m talking to Audie, and then I get hit with an empty Snapple bottle or something.
“I turn around and it’s Nate and he’s just screaming and doing s—, and Audie is flipping out because his kids are there,” Danis added.
Dana White always ‘expects’ something to happen with Nate Diaz
UFC president Dana White reacted to the incident during his post-fight press conference at MSG.
While he seemed somewhat shocked that the Stockton star made it to the event after requesting tickets too late, White was not at all surprised when hearing about Diaz’s latest altercation away from the cage.
“That’s a shocker, really?” White said sarcastically.
“The thing was that this event has been sold out for a while and Nate called last night wanting six tickets. We didn’t have six tickets to give him, so he ended up figuring it out and got some seats.
“I went over and talked to him tonight. It’s all good,” he continued. “Every time they show up, I expect something to happen. Not much bothers me anymore at this point.”