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The Miami Herald erroneously reported that UFC star Nate Diaz had been arrested.
UFC star Nate Diaz is contemplating legal action after the Miami Herald falsely reported that he had been arrested in a domestic violence case and that he had then attacked police officers in a Miami police station (per Nick Baldwin, theScore).
The false story appeared on the Herald’s website on Wednesday morning. The story cited a ‘law enforcement source’ when naming Nate Diaz as the person that had been arrested. After the story appeared Zach Rosenfield, a spokesperson for Diaz, contacted the outlet to say that Diaz has been in California and that he was not involved in any altercation.
The Herald then updated their story and issued the following correction:
In an initial version of this story, the Miami Herald incorrectly reported that mixed martial arts superstar Nate Diaz had been arrested in a domestic-violence case. The Herald apologizes for the error.
The updated story named Michael Albert Nates, 31, as the individual who was arrested and then allegedly fought with officers at the station. Nates holds a pro MMA record of 2-2 for fights occurring between 2009 and 2012.
Diaz is a veteran of 25 UFC fights (not including bouts that happened on The Ultimate Fighter 5). While competing across two divisions Diaz has won eight Fight of the Night awards (a UFC record), five Submission of the Night awards and one Knockout of the Night award.
Diaz’s last bout was the headliner of UFC 244 in November. There he lost to Jorge Masvidal, thanks to a cut, in a fight for the ‘BMF’ title.