At the end of 2014, who could have predicted that Nate Diaz’s career would have taken off like it has?
For all the world, the Stockton fighter epitomised the idea of a journeyman. He could perform when on form but too often he failed to take advantage of his momentum.
On December 13, 2014 Diaz lost for the third time in four fights and missed weight prior to taking to the Octagon.
Nothing was going right for him and in the build-up to that bout, which ended in a unanimous decision defeat to Rafael dos Anjos, UFC president Dana White claimed that Diaz was “not a needle mover.”
Look at him now!
The 31-year-old has gone from solid, ranked fighter to one of the biggest draws in the sport and a large factor in his career explosion was his March upset of Conor McGregor.
Diaz was cast into an unfamiliar spotlight after his second round submission at UFC 196 and, in the process, he ensured that his bank account would be healthier than ever before.
But Diaz insists that his success was inevitable and his newfound wealth and mainstream fame is the pay-off for a career of grafting, rather than the result of one solitary victory… although that may have sped the process up.
“This guy (McGregor) talks about all these fighters like they’re fucking dumb, and he’s right, they’re all fucking dumb,” Diaz said during a UFC 202 conference call on Friday.
“I’m not one of those guys who sat around here fucking taking contracts. I’ve been bitching about my contract for the last six years. I’ve been going through hell, so I knew I was going to get mine. When it was time to get mine, I was going to get what I was going to get regardless, and I had a plan to do it.
“It’s not thanks to Conor that I got all of this, but I’m going to say that was a shortcut.”
One of the most spectacular elements of Diaz’s victory over Conor McGregor was that it was never supposed to happen.
Rafael dos Anjos was supposed to be stood opposite ‘The Notorious’ on March 5. Diaz had reportedly been drinking shots in Cabo when he got the call to step in for the injured Brazilian. And oddsmakers gave the late replacement very little chance of getting the win.
But win he did and Diaz maintains that he’s had everything planned out from the get-go.
“If I was stupid, I wouldn’t have got to where I’m at,” Diaz continued. “I did what I had to do. I got that fight with (Michael) Johnson, I plotted him out and I got shit done. And then I plotted back and got this on 10 days notice and it worked out still, regardless. I asked for the fight, I said I wanted the fight, I got the fight, so I’m going to take the fight.
“So it’s like, I feel I’m in the position I’m in because I put myself in this position, and it’s not great, it’s not horrible, it’s fucking what it is. So that’s been my take on the whole situation. I wasn’t following the leader on making some money here. I was going to get my money regardless, and I was going to get where I’m at regardless. But I will say that he was a shortcut.”
