Not too many things have gone right for Nate Diaz this week leading up to his Octagon return later tonight (Sat., Sept. 10, 2022) at UFC 279 live on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and this includes being forced to wear The Rock’s official UFC sponsorship shoe.
Diaz, who was originally scheduled to fight Khamzat Chimaev in the main event, will now square off with Tony Ferguson in a fan-favorite matchup after “Borz” missed weight on Friday. The Stockton native hasn’t missed a beat despite the last-second change and is more excited to fight “El Cucuy” than he ever was to challenge Khamzat. After all, UFC pushed the Chimaev matchup on Diaz as the 37-year-old veteran fights out his current contract later tonight at UFC 279.
In addition to Friday’s main card transformation, Diaz was also forced to wear UFC’s current sponsorship shoe, which is Dwayne Johnson’s Project Rock footwear in partnership with Under Armour. Diaz bashed The Rock’s shoe during an interview with UFC’s Megan Olivi, but the entire segment didn’t make the broadcast. We wonder why.
nate diaz reacts to the ufc partnership with dwayne the rock johnson’s shoe company. #UFC279pic.twitter.com/EjFvYSvoVG
— Dovy (@DovySimuMMA) September 10, 2022
“These shoes f–ng suck,” said Diaz at the end of his interview. “Look at these shoes, they made me put this shit on.
“F–k these shoes!”
Maybe Diaz is still mad at The Rock for wrapping the BMF belt around Jorge Masvidal’s waist back at UFC 244. Maybe Diaz is so far removed from the UFC machine that he will take any shot at the promotion he can get. Maybe he just doesn’t like the Project Rock footwear.
Either way, this is par for the course with Diaz. He has always walked to the beat of his own drum and certainly isn’t going to hold back any punches as he approaches what many expect to be his final trip to the Octagon.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 279 fight card, starting with the early UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET as well as the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET by clicking HERE. That’s followed by the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV with live results and play-by-play action RIGHT HERE.
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