The angry young man has come of age.
The enduring image of Nate Diaz before his hour-long interview with Ariel Helwani on "The MMA Hour" on Wednesday was one of a man with a scowl, often while giving the middle-finger salute.
He was angry with his opponents and has never been the guy to play nice with them before, or for that matter, after a fight. It was a business, yes, but this was all personal to Diaz, and there would be no glad-handing or smiling.
He complained that he wasn’t pushed by the UFC, but he’d routinely miss interviews or mumble his way through those he showed up for.
His interviews were filled with so many expletives and obscene gestures that Fox had to bleep him regularly and his post-fight comments were often impossible to follow.
He’s disappeared for lengthy periods. In the last 2 ½ years, he’s had absences from the Octagon of 12 ½ months and 12 months.
He was the anti-establishment guy who could fight, but who (seemingly) had little time or little inclination to, as UFC president Dana White would famously say about his older brother, Nick Diaz, “play the game.”
Then came Wednesday and Diaz mesmerized the MMA world with his interview. So rare is an hour-long interview with Diaz that Helwani, by far the best interviewer in the business, was literally overcome with glee on the air.
Fans, as well as many MMA journalists, were breathlessly tweeting a play-by-play of the show, in awe of Diaz’s perception, frankness and understanding of the business.
He said what he said in typical Diaz brother style, which means one filled with curse words and F-bombs. He was beloved by a certain segment of the fan base before this interview for precisely that reason: He was the guy who didn’t give a bleep, who’d defiantly say what he wanted when he wanted and who didn’t quietly and pleasantly acquiesce to the polite social norms.
If one forgets the F-bombs and expletives and focuses on what he said, he made a great deal of sense. He was insightful. He proved himself to be more than just a “dumb fighter.” He showed that he understands the business and his place in it.
Nate Diaz is a star; he’s a really, really big star, and that didn’t happen just because he submitted Conor McGregor.
Before UFC 196, when Diaz stepped in on less than two weeks’ notice and submitted McGregor with a rear naked choke in the second round, it was fair to say that McGregor and ex-women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey had lapped the field in terms of stardom among MMA fighters.
In a pack not far behind them was light heavyweight Jon Jones and then, a great distance behind, was everyone else.
No longer.
Now, when you talk about the biggest stars in the UFC, it’s no longer 1 and 1A, as in McGregor and Rousey. It’s 1, 1A, 1B and, yes, 1C.
The Diaz brothers stand at that pinnacle, as well. Nick has been out for more than a year, serving a ridiculously long suspension for marijuana usage. But after the performance his brother gave Wednesday on Helwani’s show, there is little doubt that when Nick returns after his suspension is up in August, he’ll join Nate at the top of the heap, as well.
At one point, Nate spoke of all the celebrities who love MMA and who regularly attend the UFC pay-per-view shows. They’re frequently shown on the video boards during the arena in the fight. And while White usually comps them their tickets, these stars generally don’t show up for minor league events.
It takes an A-list event to get them out, and Diaz recognized that. He was ripping fighters who he perceived are too willing to suck up to the bosses and fight anyone at any time. He singled out rival Donald Cerrone, who is notorious for wanting to fight as often as possible.
"Entertainers are there in the front row,” he said. “I'm sitting there with Lil Jon and [expletive] Mike Tyson and who else? Everybody. Anyone you could think of who is famous is sitting front row. Baseball players. These guys are getting paid millions of dollars, and we're entertaining the entertainers.
“So doesn't that make us the creme de la creme? Shouldn't we be paid the [expletive]? Why are you fighting for free, you [expletive]. That [expletive] gets on my nerves.”
Diaz met in his hometown of Stockton, Calif., last week with White and UFC chairman/CEO Lorenzo Fertitta. Though TMZ reported that the meeting didn’t end well and that White stormed out, Diaz said that was not the case.
He pointed out that White and Fertitta went with him to a mural that a fan painted of him after his win over McGregor. The mural has Diaz’s face with the quote, “I’m not surprised,” below it. It was an homage to Diaz’s classic line to UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan in the cage only seconds after his win over McGregor, “I’m not surprised [expletives].”
He was supposed to fight McGregor in a rematch at UFC 200 on July 9 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. But that fight was pulled when McGregor, perceived by many to be the company man and the fighter so chummy with the bosses that he refers to UFC co-owner Frank Fertitta as “Uncle Frank,” refused to fly to Las Vegas to attend a news conference.
Diaz, the supposed rebel, was there on time. But he made the point very clearly that he wasn’t fighting anyone if not McGregor.
It was his way of saying, “I want to be paid, and paid very well.”
Now that there is no chance of McGregor-Diaz II at UFC 200, White has been trying to make it for UFC 202 in August.
And it would have already been made, except for one small detail: Diaz has leverage, and he knows it. Given that, the price, Diaz pointed out, has gone up.
“After my last fight, [White and Fertitta were] like, ‘You're finally getting paid. Congratulations,' ” Diaz said. “No, that's reimbursement. That’s what that is. I haven't even been paid yet, and I'm going to continue to represent for my [expletive] and say what's what and get what's mine, because no one wants to see no other fight.”
He saw through the proposed boxing match between McGregor and boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather as a phony, and pointed out how ridiculous it is to even consider.
He gave the world an insight into the close relationship he has with his brother, who got him into the sport.
It was fascinating stuff, and Helwani did a terrific job nudging Diaz along. Helwani's thoughtful, well-phrased questions often make his interviews.
In this case, he didn’t need to do that because Diaz was carrying the load. So Helwani largely backed off, and pushed him down the road just enough to get him talking about the things the fans wanted to hear.
He may continue to scowl, and swear, and flip the bird, but this much is true: After that interview with that level of insight, Diaz should no longer be viewed as the UFC’s angry young man.
If anything, he’s the wise old sage, who after more than a decade in the world’s largest MMA promotion has just about seen it all and understands it all.
Diaz has had many great fights, including the win over McGregor, but no doubt, this interview with Helwani was hands-down the best performance of his life.
