Islam Makhachev doesn’t know what he did to make Nate Diaz mad.
In December, Makhachev and Diaz grabbed headlines after a small altercation backstage the place the 2 threw water bottles at one another from throughout the room. Makhachev was there for the UFC 311 press convention whereas was there supporting his teammate Kron Gracie, who was participating within the UFC 310 ceremonial weigh-ins, and based on Makhachev, the entire thing kicked off when Diaz shot his staff the chook.
“Subsequent day they put me near the cage,” Makhachev advised Demetrious Johnson. “I sat with Dana and Dana got here to me and mentioned, ‘You’re a troublemaker.’ I mentioned, ‘Dana, it’s not my fault!’
“We sat, earlier than battle day, I had a press convention, fighters had official weigh-ins. We sat and Diaz began to point out [gestures his middle finger] for what? Possibly for somebody, it’s good, no downside, however that’s not our model.”
For Makhachev, your entire factor got here out of nowhere. Diaz by no means fought anybody from his staff earlier than, although he did have a rivalry with Makhachev’s good friend and coach Khabib Nurmagomedov that by no means materialized into an precise battle. Pondering on it, that’s the one factor Makhachev may give you for why Diaz fired the two-finger salute to his staff.
“One of many guys wore a masks,” Makhachev mentioned. “He was sick just a little bit and wore the masks, and perhaps Diaz considering it’s Khabib and confirmed him, you understand? However that day Khabib was not in Vegas, he was in another nation.”
In the end, nothing too untoward occurred. After the groups exchanged a volley of water bottles, the incident was shortly damaged up by safety, and Makhachev and his staff left the constructing. And upon reflection, Makhachev believes your entire incident might have simply been for present.
“You already know what’s fascinating, perhaps 5, six months in the past, I meet Diaz within the elevator within the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas,” Makhachev mentioned. “He goes to me and says, ‘Respect, respect, respect.’ However what modified now? Loads of cameras come and all the time folks change.
“We don’t have one thing. If I’ve one thing with him, I can repair it within the Wynn Resort. However he got here to me and mentioned ‘Respect’ after which he go. However when digital camera comes, he’s altering. And folks assume I began this!
“I’m not beginning this. Safety comes and so they wish to ship my staff from the sector and I’m like, ‘Hey, it’s not the fellows’ fault!’ … ‘Sorry, you guys have to go away. You need to keep and do interview and your staff has to go away.’ I mentioned, no, it’s not working like this. In the event that they go away, I go away with them, and so they canceled all interviews [laughs].”
Makhachev defends his light-weight title towards Arman Tsarukyan in the primary occasion of UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.
