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Nate Diaz was one of several MMA personalities who were critical of WWE icon and Hollywood megastar Dwayne Johnson in light of his 'Project Rock' footwear deal with the UFC.
The MMA community was set abuzz by the revelation last year that the UFC had signed a deal with Dwayne Johnson aka 'The Rock,' making Under Armour's 'Project Rock' the UFC's official footwear.
As per the terms of the deal, UFC athletes and cornermen were obligated to wear the 'Project Rock' shoes during workouts, weigh-ins, special events, etc. Despite the significant promotional responsibilities handed to the UFC fighters and their teams, it was reported that the fighters might not reap any financial benefits from the deal.
On that note, Nate Diaz took a jibe at Dwayne Johnson, lambasting his 'Project Rock' shoes. Diaz's final UFC fight witnessed him defeat Tony Ferguson via fourth-round submission at UFC 279 on September 10th, 2022.
The Stockton native confirmed that he'd be leaving the UFC for some time to pursue fights in boxing and for other combat sports aspirations. Nate Diaz subsequently partook in a backstage interview with Megan Olivi for ESPN, in which he sounded off on the 'Project Rock' shoes. Diaz stated:
"These shoes f***ing s**k. Look at these shoes. They made me put this sh** on... F**k these shoes!"
Watch Diaz's criticism of the shoes in the video below:
When Dwayne Johnson responded to Nate Diaz's criticism after UFC 244
Dwayne Johnson has been widely criticized with regard to his 'Project Rock' deal with the UFC. Regardless, the criticism appears to have reduced over the past few months. Johnson, for his part, hasn't expounded upon Diaz's statements regarding the 'Project Rock' shoes. However, he did address the MMA legend's jibes at him in another disagreement involving the duo back in 2019.
Dwayne Johnson was given the honor of handing the UFC 244 headlining matchup's winner the BMF title. The headlining matchup in question was a welterweight bout between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal. Diaz ended up losing the fight via third-round TKO.
Johnson resultantly presented the BMF title to his acquaintance and fellow Miami native Jorge Masvidal. During the post-fight press conference, Nate Diaz jibed at Johnson, suggesting that the Hollywood actor was biased towards Masvidal and didn't deserve the honor of presenting a UFC title.
Johnson later responded to Diaz on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show on ESPN. De-escalating the feud, he stated:
“I wasn’t surprised at Nate’s comments because that’s the Nate that we all know and love. He is as advertised. Nate, he gets it. He knows that me and Jorge we’re boys, we’re from Miami."
