Nate Diaz is setting the record straight on his perceived beef with Anthony Pettis …
Nate Diaz has no ill will toward Anthony Pettis.
The UFC 241 co-headliner spoke with media at Wednesday’s open workouts inside Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., ahead of his showdown with “Showtime” this weekend (Sat., Aug. 17, 2019). Pettis looks forward to settling a multi-year feud with Diaz, but the animosity only goes one way.
“I was not jealous of him. I was mad that they were handing him things — just like Conor. I did more work than these guys and they’re pushing them as the guys,” Diaz told MMA Mania. “No, f—k that I’m the guy. That’s all that was and he should probably understand that. That’s what everyone in this fight game should be doing.”
Diaz may occupy the co-main event slot, but he is the biggest trending fighter on the card.
“I don’t think they had any choice,” he said of UFC’s promotion of him. “They’ve been trying to degrade me the whole time I’ve been out. They’re trying to put me low on the card against not very big names. They also tried to get me huge but those fell through. It don’t matter. I believe I’m the main event in any even they got.”
The big money fighter also opened up about how his brother, Nick Diaz, has shaped his mixed martial arts (MMA) journey.
“My brother is responsible for anything I’ve ever done,” Diaz shared. “It’s crazy what’s he has done and how he did everything. I was just a kid sitting at the house watching him do it. I was like, ‘since I don’t have much going on for me I’ll follow the road.’ This whole impact is from him… He is 100 percent the main reason I’m here.”
Diaz generated a lot of buzz after sparking a joint at the UFC 241 open workouts. He told media afterward it was purely CBD (cannabidiol) the primarily non-psychoactive element of marijuana.
“I gotta smoke the weed after the fight, so I had to smoke Game Up CBD,” he said. “It’s good for you.”