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Nate Diaz mocked Kamaru Usman’s upcoming fight. The UFC champion responded.

Nate Diaz returned to the Octagon this month after a lengthy spell on the sidelines. In his comeback fight, at UFC 263, he lost a decision to Leon Edwards, despite having the Brit in trouble in the fifth and final round.

Prior to the fight Diaz told anyone who would listen that, no matter the result against Edwards, he saw himself fighting for the welterweight title soon. Yesterday he took to Twitter to poke at the incumbent champion Kamaru Usman.

“Who dis guy fighting next? Someone he already koed,” wrote Diaz referring to Usman’s upcoming defence to Colby Covington. Usman defeated Covington by TKO in 2019, breaking his jaw in the process.

Usman was quick to respond, asking Diaz to contact UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell to arrange a date. “I see you 209. If you really want this 187 then call your boy hunter,” he wrote.

Diaz then fired back. “Ur locked down you do what ur told to do like a good champion,” he wrote above a picture of a bloodied and swollen Covington.

Usman again responded, doubling down on his advice that Diaz get in touch with Hunter Campbell.

“Key word “CHAMPION” lol. All you guys just internet tough guys nowadays. Like I said if you really want this pressure then holla at your boy hunter”.

The date or location for Usman vs. Covington 2 has not yet been announced. If it goes ahead this will be the second rematch Usman has faced in a row. At UFC 261 ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ faced Jorge Masvidal, who he defeated back at UFC 251 in 2020. In their most recent fight Usman KO’d Masvidal in the second round.

In addition to title defences versus Covington and Masvidal, Usman has also defeated Gilbert Burns. He won the welterweight crown by beating Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 in 2019. He is currently undefeated in the UFC with a 19-1 overall record.

Diaz remains one of the most popular fighters in the sport. That’s despite his win-loss record over his past 10 contests being 4-6. That run began with back-to-back losses to Benson Henderson and Josh Thomson in 2012 and 2013. He beat Gray Maynard by TKO in 2013 and was then beaten by Rafael dos Anjos the following year.

After beating Michael Johnson in 2015, Diaz landed a short notice fight versus then UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor. Diaz famously won the bout, a non-title welterweight affair, by second round submission. Diaz then lost a split decision to McGregor when they rematched a few months later.

In 2019 Diaz returned from a three year absence to defeat Anthony Pettis at UFC 241. He then lost to Jorge Masvidal at UFC 244, due to a cut.

Cesar Gracie gives an update on Nick Diaz’s next possible career move.

Much has been said about Nick Diaz’s UFC return after six years on the sidelines. Talks first surfaced in late 2020 and carried on in the succeeding months. Nothing was ever finalized.

Dana White, who was initially dismissive about Nick’s return plans, eventually became more optimistic about it. Just a few weeks ago, the UFC president revealed some “promising” progress in the negotiations as he expects the elder Diaz to be back in the Octagon in 2021.

But the recent updates from the Diaz camp seem to say otherwise. Cesar Gracie, a long-time mentor to both Nick and Nate, sent this text message to MMA Fighting.

“We were looking at September. I have to see where he is in his contract. It is possible that his next fight will not be in the UFC.”

So if Diaz won’t be fighting in the UFC, what else could be in store for him in terms of his fighting career? Cesar Gracie also has an answer to that.

“Nick is very open to take a fight in MMA or boxing.”

The 37-year-old Diaz (26-9, 2 NC) last saw action at UFC 183 against Anderson Silva, a fight that was ruled a No Contest due to drug test failures on both men. He’s so far had quite a colorful time while on hiatus and even got himself a new gig.

Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson explains what he believes is Conor McGregor’s main key to victory against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.

Many would agree that a different Conor McGregor showed up at UFC 257 against Dustin Poirier five months ago. In his early years in the UFC, we saw a fighter who was audacious on the mic and loose inside the cage.

But in January, we saw a more subdued version of ‘The Notorious’ who took on a more boxing-heavy approach. McGregor ended up losing via second-round TKO, a first in his relatively young but already notable career.

Now that he’s set to face ‘The Diamond’ for the third time at UFC 264, he needs to make some adjustments to bounce back. And for Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, McGregor could start by going back to his roots.

“I think the person that has to do more changing of the fighters is definitely Conor,” Thompson said recently on Submission Radio. “I mean, Dustin Poirier has been fighting pretty much the same way for the longest time. He’s got great boxing, good timing, he’s tough as nails, he likes to sit in the pocket and he’s intelligent.

“I think [Conor] kind of lost something in his last fight. I think it was all the boxing that he was doing. He doesn’t have that movement anymore that you normally saw. Like when he fought Jose Aldo. It was the movement that won him that fight. And he was kind of standing there in front of Dustin Poirier and he took a lot of low calf kicks, and that’s what settled it, sealed the deal.

Wonderboy further explains…

“So, he’s got to get back into moving like a Karate guy. He’s got to get back into getting on his bike, using that in and out movement, switching sides, playing that game, if he’s going to go out there and beat him again. Cause he can draw out Dustin Poirier’s strikes with his movement.

“And him being such a good counter puncher, can counter off of that. So out of the two, Conor’s got to get back to that. So, don’t know how hard that is and how long he’s been doing the boxing stuff, but he’s got to get out of that and get back to his movement.

“If he can do that, Conor can win.”

UFC 264 takes place on July 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the first event in the said venue since UFC 248 last March. Wonderboy will be co-headlining the card against former title challenger Gilbert Burns.

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UFC 264 is fast-approaching. The pay-per-view event is scheduled for July 10, 2021 and headlined by the rubber match between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. As the two have split their previous pair of bouts, there’s plenty of film to review and lots of lessons to be learned.

Of course, with McGregor tasting defeat far more recently, the onus is on “The Notorious” to make the largest adjustments. Per top Welterweight contender and Karate Kid Stephen Thompson, the most important key is that McGregor returns to his traditional martial arts roots and move “like a Karate guy.”

“I think the person that has to do more changing of the fighters is definitely Conor,” Thompson told Submission Radio (via MMAJunkie). “I mean, Dustin Poirier has been fighting pretty much the same way for the longest time. He’s got great boxing, good timing, he’s tough as nails, he likes to sit in the pocket, and he’s intelligent. I think he (Conor) kind of lost something in his last fight. I think it was all the boxing that he was doing. He doesn’t have that movement anymore that you normally saw. Like when he fought Jose Aldo, it was the movement that won him that fight. And he was kind of standing there in front of Dustin Poirier, and he took a lot of low calf kicks, and that’s what settled it, sealed the deal.

“So, he’s got to get back into moving like a karate guy. He’s got to get back into getting on his bike, using that in-and-out movement, switching sides, playing that game if he’s going to go out there and beat him again. Because he can draw out Dustin Poirier’s strikes with his movement. And him being such a good counter puncher, (he) can counter off of that. So out of the two, Conor’s got to get back to that. So, don’t know how hard that is and how long he’s been doing the boxing stuff, but he’s got to get out of that and get back to his movement. If he can do that, Conor can win.”

Karate Conor vs. Boxer Conor was a popular meme after McGregor’s loss, but it’s just been verified by one of the sport’s best strikers! It remains to be seen what adjustments McGregor will make ahead of this battle, nor can we count out Poirier pulling another trick from up his sleeves.

2.5 weeks to go.

Insomnia

Is Kamaru Usman copying Conor McGregor’s swag?

Speaking of Usman, Nate Diaz is already angling to fight the champion despite his recent losses, and who knows, maybe it’ll happen!

Brandon Moreno deserves a Lego sponsorship.

It is confirmed: spinning sh*t > modern firearms.

Beth Correia has been rebooked for a retirement fight opposite Karol Rosa. Does she call it quits on a win?

It takes a good bit of work for Amanda Nunes to cut down to 135 lbs., which has to be a big part of the reason she wants to keep Featherweight around.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

The classic “look at the referee to pressure him into a stoppage/standup/separation” is used because it works!

Come for the sweat blasting off this dude’s head, stay for the insanity that immediately follows.

Securing the triangle from mouth without rolling to one’s back is pretty impressive!

Random Land

I have to agree with one of the comments; this feels like a Grand Theft Auto bit.

Midnight Music: Shoutout to Spotify for introducing me to the “King of the Surf Guitar,” an early 60s artifact as cool as it sounds.

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.