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Nate Diaz defeated Conor McGregor via second-round submission at UFC 196 on March 5th, 2016. The fight proved to be Nate’s breakthrough as a combat sports megastar and was one of the highest-grossing events in MMA history.
However, the UFC, Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor failed to reach an agreement for a rematch. This was primarily due to differences over the pay and date of the fight. Thankfully, in June 2016, UFC president Dana White finally succeeded in getting all parties to reach an agreement.
The UFC confirmed that the rematch would take place at UFC 202 on August 20th, 2016. Nate Diaz, on his part, posted a hilarious video via Instagram of him hitting Dana White with the Stockton Slap – an open-handed palm strike that Nate and his brother Nick have utilized with great success in MMA.
You can watch the video below:
Dana White subsequently appeared on the UFC Unfiltered podcast to explain how the video of Nate Diaz slapping him came to be. White revealed that they were traveling when he got the idea. He stated:
“We just left, and we were heading back to the arena. We were on Crenshaw, and there was a place called the Turf Hotel. It just came to me; I said, ‘Pull the truck over. I want Nate to slap me’. And Nate looked at me like, ‘What the f**l?’ – You should’ve saw the look on his face when I said that. And then we pulled over, and he started slapping away.”
Dana White was then asked whether he’d let other UFC employees slap him in the same way. The UFC boss replied:
“Yeah, trust me. (If) I open that one up, they’ll be f**king lining up for days.”
Nate Diaz aims to return in December 2021
Nate Diaz's most recent fight was a unanimous decision loss against Leon Edwards at UFC 263 in June 2021.
Leon Edwards outpointed Nate Diaz for the majority of the fight but was badly stunned and almost stopped by 'The Stockton Slugger' in the fifth and final round. 'Rocky' somehow managed to survive until the final bell. Nevertheless, it was Nate Diaz's stock that rose courtesy of the thrilling end to the fight.
Currently, Nate Diaz has his sights set on the toughest fights available, irrespective of weight class or title implications.
