Nate Diaz’s legal trouble may not affect his boxing fight scheduled for Jake Paul over the summer.

The mixed martial artist will move forward with his fight with Paul and a press conference is scheduled for May 9, reports the Boxing Scene.

That comes despite a video that leaked over the weekend of Diaz choking a man, who has been identified as Rodney Petersen, unconscious.

> GET DIAZ-PAUL FIGHT TICKETS HERE!

https://twitter.com/FightHaven/status/1649767511561306112

The action has resulted in the New Orleans Police Department sending out a warrant for Diaz’s arrest for alleged second-degree battery.

However, Diaz is claiming self-defense.

“Nate’s attorney Walter Becker can confirm that Nate has received word of the arrest warrant and Becker has been in contact with court authorities in New Orleans,” Zach Rosenfield, a representative for Diaz said in a statement to TMZ Sports.

“Nate’s attorney looks forward to presenting all of the facts about this incident to the District Attorney which clearly demonstrates that a trained fighter named Rodney Petersen aggressively pursued Nate with the intention of engaging him and once doing so, Nate acted entirely in self-defense.”

As the fight will reportedly move forward, Paul has agreed to have fellow YouTuber Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji, also known as KSI serve as the backup fighter.

KSI previously fought Paul’s brother Logan twice. One was scored a draw and the other gave KSI the nod with a split decision.

But Diaz didn’t take too kindly to Paul agreeing to fight KSI if it comes down to that.

“Lol why Dont u to scared p***ys just fight each other [in] august [and] I’ll fight someone who can really fight.”

Diaz, of course, is known for his UFC career and was one of the most recognizable names in the sport.

While it’s unclear if he will ever return to the Octagon, he owns a 22-13 record in the UFC.

He has fought Conor McGregor twice, where the two are 1-1 against each other.

McGregor has stated multiple times that the trilogy between him and Diaz will happen one day to settle the score.

However, Diaz is set for a payday in boxing against one of the biggest draws in the sport.

Diaz is scheduled to fight Paul on Saturday, August 5.

It’s been a wild past 48 hours for the UFC and now the main fights tonight taking place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada will change. 

It all started with a massive brawl behind stage Thursday that was initiated by fighters Khamzat Chimaev and Kevin Holland, according to UFC President Dana White. 

White, who called it a “complete sh– show,” was forced to cancel the press conference on safety concerns. 

If that wasn’t bad enough, Chimaev, who was set to fight Nate Diaz in the main event wound up missing weight significantly.

That forced the UFC to move quickly and alter the card, which now headlines Diaz and Tony Ferguson. 

Ironically, the co-main event will now feature Holland and Chimaev. 

Both fights will be five rounds apiece. 

Here is the full list of fights on tonight’s pay-per-view: 

• Nate Diaz vs Tony Ferguson
• Khamzat Chimaev vs. Kevin Holland
• Li Jingliang vs. Daniel Rodriguez
• Irene Aldana vs. Macy Chiasson
• Johnny Walker vs Ion Cutelaba

Just a couple of days ago, Diaz was seen as a massive underdog to Chimaev, who is the number three contender in the welterweight division. 

Chimaev was a whopping -1200 favorite. 

Now, the two fan favorites in Diaz and Ferguson, who are both on the backend of their careers, will face off against each other in the octagon. 

The 37-year-old and 38-year-old both enter the bout with multiple fight-losing streaks. 

According to OddsChecker, Ferguson is a -122 favorite currently. 

And Holland is a significant underdog against Chimaev at +430. 

The prelim fights will begin at 8 pm ET respectively and can be watched on ESPNN or ESPN+ at 8 pm.

The PPV kicks off at 10 pm ET and can be watched on ESPN+ for $74.99. 

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has been outspoken about his belief that Conor McGregor has seen the last of his days in mixed martial arts and advocates for the MMA to stop supporting McGregor after his recent loss to Dustin Poirier.

Prior to Nurmagomedov’s retirement in 2020, he defeated McGregor in a 2018 title fight. Both before and after the fight, things got chaotic. McGregor threw an object at the bus Nurmagomedov was on and insulted Nurmagomedov’s wife, father and religion. Nurmagomedov famously leaped out of the octagon and confronted McGregor’s team after defeating him.

On Saturday, July 10, McGregor lost to Poirier at UFC 264 after a doctor stoppage was implemented due to McGregor breaking his leg. Even after the loss, McGregor directed threats and insults at Poirier. Nurmagomedov claims the sport will be damaged if they continue to support McGregor. He believes McGregor will not see any more success in the future.

“Money and fame show who you are. All the time we hear that money and fame change people. No. When money and fame come, these two things show who you are. And what has McGregor done? He punched an old guy in a bar in 2019. You guys can watch everything he did and understand, it’s just like Dustin said, ‘This guy is a bag of s—,'” said Nurmagomedov in an interview with ESPN.

Nurmagomedov’s statement continued, “I saw a lot of tweets try to support him. How are you gonna support this guy? When kids, young generation watch him, watch this sport? If you want to promote your fight, promote. If the MMA community is going to support this bad people, this sport is going to go in a bad way.”

Nurmagomedov discussed McGregor’s current level of fighting and does not believe his old rival will ever return to his peak performance due to a ‘lack of hunger’ and the recent leg injury.

“Without broken legs, yes, he could be the same,” Nurmagomedov said. “But with broken legs, he’s never going to kick the same. With him, no, I don’t believe he’ll return to the top. Conor have good age 32, but what happened with his mind, legs — this guy is finished, but he’s good for promotion.”

Nurmagomedov went on to predict McGregor would be provided a matchup with either Poirier or Nate Diaz next but expects him to lose no matter the opponent.

On Friday, the UFC 261 weigh-ins took place, and all card fighters made the appropriate weights, including Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal.

Usman (18-1) vs Masvidal (35-14) is the main event for UFC 261, and passing the weigh-ins means the match is official and will happen. Usman weighed 169.5 pounds, and Masvidal hit the mark at 170 pounds.

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Usman is defending his UFC welterweight title against Masvidal in the main event of UFC 261 on Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida. The two fighters are familiar with one another as they previously faced off in UFC 251. Usman beat Masvidal via unanimous decision in that matchup last July.

Usman was originally scheduled to fight Gilbert Burns in UFC 251, but Burns tested positive for coronavirus, so Masvidal replaced Burns on six-day notice. This time, Masvidal has had enough time to prepare for the rematch.

Usman is currently on a 13-fight win streak and is looking for his 14th straight UFC victory and fourth title defense win. If Usman does win on Saturday, then the Nigerian would hold the second-place record for longest win streaks. The Nigerian fighter’s win streak is tied with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones. Anderson Silva holds the record with 16 straight wins.

Masvidal is one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster. The Florida native became one of the hottest fighters in 2019 with a three-fight win streak. In those three fights, he defeated Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz in a span of eight months to become one of the hottest MMA fighters. Unfortunately, the Florida native’s hot streak came to an end at the hands of Usman. This time, the Florida native will look to end the Nigerian fighter’s streak on Saturday.

UFC 261 will also feature two additional title defenses in the co-main event. Weili Zhang (21-1) will defend her women’s strawweight title against former champion Rose Namajunas (9-4). Zhang has not lost a fight since her debut loss. Namajunas has won four of her last five fights.

Valentina Shevchenko (20-3) will defend her flyweight title against Jessica Andrade (21-8).

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Nick Diaz announced on Monday he plans to return to the UFC Octagon next year, and he wants to do it in a big way: by fighting Jorge Masvidal at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.

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Diaz, the 36-year-old older brother of Nate Diaz, also called on UFC President Dana White to set up the fight in the ESPN interview in which he announced his comeback. According to the South China Morning Post, Nick Diaz’s manager Kevin Mubenga confirmed that his client wished for the comeback bout to be held in Arlington, Texas.

“You know, it’s on you Dana,” Diaz told ESPN’ Ariel Helwani. “It’s on you, UFC. … that’s on them. It’s in your hands now. Cowboy Stadium.”

Nick Diaz, a former welterweight champion in WEC and Strikeforce, last fought in January 2015, when he lost to Anderson Silva by unanimous decision at UFC 183. However, Nate Diaz lost to Masvidal at UFC 244 in New York City earlier this month. Masvidal took the “BMF” belt after winning the bout via a third-round TKO. The fight proved to be controversial, as the medical professional in charge ruled Diaz should stop competing due to two severe cuts near his eye.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW 

Given the ending of the fight, Nick Diaz went after Masvidal, saying he hopes to defeat the AFC Welterweight champion, who also holds the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history. Diaz particularly took issue with Masvidal’s post-match comments about the former fighter’s brother.

“You want to talk about baptizing my younger brother?” said Nick Diaz. “That’s on you. Like, you don’t talk about baptizing my younger brother, so you’re already in a f—ing position if you fight with me.”
“You don’t f—ing talk about baptizing someone’s younger brother. That’s my baby brother. You don’t talk like that to nobody.”

However, Diaz also revealed how hungry he is to return to the Octagon by saying he is willing to fight other opponents as well.

“I’ll fight anybody,” Nick Diaz told Helwani. “This guy [Masvidal] can do anything he wants to do right now to make the most money possible.”

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White has fervently stated that Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor won’t be fighting at UFC 200 on July 9, although he would like McGregor’s opponent, Ultimate Fighter 5 champion Nate Diaz, to stay on the card.

Dana White Wants Nate Diaz To Fight At UFC 200 On July 9

White told TMZ this week that he believes Diaz, 31, still stands to make a hefty payday by fighting at UFC 200 even if he will no longer be facing the Irishman.

“Obviously, I would like to keep Nate (on the card),” White stated on Monday. “Nate stands to make a lot of money on 200, I’d like to keep him on 200 but that’s up to him.”

Diaz has said that he is only interested in fighting McGregor, 27, at UFC 200. He also tweeted out on Monday that he was going on vacation after rumors began spreading that McGregor was off UFC 200 and that there was no chance he was coming back.

“He’s not mad. He’s actually pretty cool about it,” White said regarding Diaz. “This is a fight that Conor was really obsessed with and Conor really wanted this fight and Nate was like ‘whatever’. The Diaz brothers don’t get excited about too much, they really don’t. Nate always ‘I just want to be in big money fights’. Nick wants to be in big money fights.

“Even though this big money fight did fall apart, he’s not crazy. He’s not upset.”

White also added that Diaz could virtually choose any other opponent besides McGregor at UFC 200.

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 27: UFC president Dana White appears during a media availability for UFC 200 at Madison Square Garden on April 27, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

With a lightweight championship fight off the table, 145-pound Irishman Conor McGregor (19-2) has chosen to move up two weight classes and fight Nate Diaz in a non-title welterweight fight at UFC 196’s MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on March 5.

Conor McGregor Moving Up 2 Classes To Fight dos Anjos Fill-in Nate Diaz

McGregor, 27, was originally scheduled to fight defending 155-pound champion Rafael dos Anjos (25-7) on March 5, although that matchup fell through after dos Anjos officially withdrew on Tuesday because of a broken foot. He will thus be sidelined for approximately six to eight weeks.

Diaz (18-10), a longtime lightweight, is coming off a decision win against Michael Johnson on Dec. 19. The 30-year-old Stockton, Calif., native is 2-2 as a welterweight. McGregor and Diaz have agreed to meet at 170 pounds for the fight.

McGregor won the UFC featherweight championship on Dec. 19, when he knocked out longtime king Jose Aldo with a left hook in 13 seconds, the fastest finish in UFC title fight history. McGregor is 7-0 in the UFC with six total knockouts.

UFC President Dana White explained on SportsCenter that before Diaz was chosen as McGregor’s opponent, offers were extended to former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Aldo, although neither was able to accept. Edgar is dealing with a groin injury, while Aldo’s coach Andre Pederneiras stated that Aldo would not be ready on such short notice.

“We called Jose Aldo; Jose Aldo turned the fight down,” White said. “We called Frankie Edgar; Frankie Edgar turned the fight down. Those are two guys everybody was talking about. A lot of guys wanted this fight, but we ended up with Nate Diaz. We felt this was the fight to make and the fight the fans wanted to see.”

Women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm will meet Miesha Tate in the other featured event in UFC 196. This will mark Holm’s first title defense since her incredible second-round knockout of former defending champion Ronda Rousey on Nov. 15.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G52ll7SzPE

LAS VEGAS, NV – DECEMBER 12: Conor McGregor celebrates after a first-round knockout victory over Jose Aldo in their featherweight title fight during UFC 194 on December 12, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)