Earlier than former UFC celebrity Nate Diaz agreed to combat Mike Perry in Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano, a former rival was supplied as his opponent.
Probably the most fascinating fan-friendly bouts of the yr will happen on the undercard match between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano subsequent month in Los Angeles. Former UFC celebrity Nate Diaz makes his long-awaited return to blended martial arts, taking up fellow UFC alumnus Mike Perry in what guarantees to be an instantaneous traditional.
This shall be Diaz’s first blended martial arts bout after parting methods with the UFC after defeating Tony Ferguson at UFC 279. Regardless of makes an attempt by UFC CEO Dana White to lure Diaz again into the Octagon in current weeks, Conor McGregor’s two-time rival accepted an “supply he could not refuse” to combat Perry.
Whereas Perry stays the principle focus of Diaz’s camp, Diaz revealed some fascinating tidbits about how the Perry combat got here to fruition. At a current roundtable dialogue, This weekend with Theo Fung On the podcast, Diaz claimed that former UFC rival Josh Thomson has been supplied as a possible opponent. most beneficial promotion.
The bout would have been ample alternative for Diaz to avenge the one knockout lack of his legendary preventing profession. However based on Thomson, not solely did Diaz flip down the combat, however so did his high protégé, Chris Avila.
Josh Thomson tells Nate Diaz, ‘You guys aren’t gangsters!’ after breaking apart a combat
In current episodes, Weighing in progress On the podcast, Thomson reacted to Diaz’s current firing and accused the UFC celebrity of refusing to do a Rousey vs. Carano match.
“I believe Nate’s concern was that he wished me to combat different guys as a result of I had been inactive for some time,” Thomson stated of Diaz. “I used to be like, ‘Okay, superb. I will take it. Who do you keep in mind?'”
“Now you flip down a combat with me and say you need a better combat than me? And so they signed somebody to combat Chris Avila,” Thomson continued. “All these West Coast gangsters, and but you come right here and say no, you do not need to combat a 47-year-old who hasn’t fought in seven years. I laughed. You are not gangsters!” (h/t Bloody Elbow)
Thomson knocked out Diaz with a head kick in April 2013, simply earlier than Diaz continued his legendary run that included wins over Rafael dos Anjos and McGregor. Thomson, now 47, retired from MMA following a knockout loss to Patricky Pitbull at Bellator 172.
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