Nate Diaz has a specific grievance with Charles Oliveira heading into his MVP MMA 1 fight with Mike Perry on Saturday, and it centers on a fight request that was shut down before being replaced by a callout that Diaz cannot understand.
Speaking with MMA Fighting, Diaz explained that he had made a respectful approach about fighting Oliveira after the Brazilian won the BMF title by defeating Max Holloway, only to be turned down before watching Oliveira pivot to calling out Conor McGregor.
“Oliveira got the belt and I was waiting for shit to happen. Oliveira’s the man. I’ve been around longer than Oliveira. Everybody thinks that he’ll kill me but I’m like yeah right. I always wondered why me and Oliveira never fought. So when he finally got the belt and was around, I was like oh sht, I’ll fight f**ing Oliveira. So I said what’s up with Oliveira? Respectfully, I’d like to fight Oliveira. He’s been around and he said ‘no, thanks homie.’ ‘I’m trying to fight for titles and do all this big sh*t’ and I’m like OK, you got me on that.”
The McGregor callout changed Diaz’s assessment entirely.
“And then he won fing one fight and then he called out Conor. That’s exactly what I thought when he called out Conor. Why are you trying to fight the guy who’s coming off a leg break, just got knocked out and he’s all fed up and on a downward spiral and you’re over here like ‘no thanks, homie, I’m trying to do bigger things.’”
Diaz made clear that Oliveira’s logic does not hold up under scrutiny.
“I was like picking on a guy that just got his ass whooped the whole time, motherfer? You’re full of sht. You think you’re fing tight and that’s why I had something to say about Oliveira. I don’t have nothing against him except for that. No thanks, homie, I’m onto bigger, better things. Like what? Picking on a guy who just got his ass whooped the whole time? That’s whack. Those are the motherf**ers that I’m trying to fight. I’m fighting the bullies.”