UFC star Nate Diaz hinted at 'taking over' boxing last night following a win in his last fight under contract with UFC as he choked late replacement opponent, Tony Ferguson, out in round four in the final fight of his 15-year UFC career.
Following the victory, Diaz thanked everyone for his time in UFC before putting out a cryptic message about potentially making the switch to boxing by saying: "I want to get out of the UFC for a minute and show all these UFC fighters how to take over and own up another sport how you’re supposed to do it because Conor McGregor didn’t know how to do it and none of these other fighters know how to do it.
"So I’m going to out there and take over another profession and become the best at that, show everybody I’m the best at that, then I’m going to be right the f*** back here to get a motherf***ing UFC title, the best title in the world" This was seen as a reference to when McGregor entered the boxing world to take on Floyd Mayweather in a bout that was professionally sanctioned which saw McGregor get stopped by Mayweather in round 10.
Nate Diaz sounds off to close out #UFC279! pic.twitter.com/S6eGlB77lM
— UFC (@ufc) September 11, 2022
McGregor would respond on Twitter demanding Diaz to 'respect the king': "Ah come on bro I’m absolutely stinking. And with so much quality. This has never been seen before what I’m doing man. Please, Your nothing with out me. Respect, please. I’d slap you around handy. And Tony easy. I’d have sawed Tony in half. 2 ham ball heads. Respect the king."
Ah come on bro I’m absolutely stinking. And with so much quality. This has never been seen before what I’m doing man. Please, Your nothing with out me. Respect, please. I’d slap you around handy. And Tony easy. I’d have sawed Tony in half. 2 ham ball heads.
Respect the king. https://t.co/41DMLdUIDn— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 11, 2022
Interestingly, YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul had something to say. Paul has a boxing record of 5-0 and two of those opponents were ex-UFC stars, Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley, Paul is slated to face UFC legend Anderson Silva in his next boxing bout in October. Following Diaz's victory, Paul posted a video on Twitter where he says: "Nate Diaz is going into the sport of boxing. I wonder who he should fight." Hinting that Paul has an interest in a future bout with Diaz.
Nate Diaz says he’s going into the sport of boxing. pic.twitter.com/wZoKkDbN2s
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) September 11, 2022
After a glittering career in the UFC, Diaz would definitely bring a new audience to the sport of boxing and it will be interesting to see what sort of impression he has on the sport.