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Michael Bisping has been a vocal critic of Nate Diaz and how he's handled his UFC 244 defeat to Jorge Masvidal. He's been open about how much he's enjoyed watching Diaz's fight, but Diaz's post-fight antics haven't pleased the former UFC Middleweight Champion.
On an episode of his podcast Believe You Me (H/T Credits bjpenn.com), Bisping slammed Diaz for teasing retirement after his defeat.
“Listen, I love to watch Nate fight and I love to watch Nick fight,”
“I am a huge fan of both of them, I really am. There was no way I was missing that fight on Saturday. There was no way I was missing the Pettis fight. They’re great fighters. They bring excitement every time. And you’re right there is that aura, that element of there’s a wildness. You don’t know what they’re gonna do and what they’re gonna say, and that’s part of the attraction. I get that, but by losing this fight and then saying, ‘okay I’m gonna retire,’ because it didn’t go his way and then to start coming out with conspiracy theories and things like that. It’s wholly unattractive.”
He continued, saying:
“For him to say, ‘I’m gonna retire,’ he’s only hurting himself. He’s in his mid-30s. I don’t know what is he like, 32? 33? 34, maybe something like that. This window doesn’t last forever. I don’t know what he got paid in New York, but it would’ve been a lot of money I guarantee you that. It was probably in the region of a couple million dollars I would assume."
He said that the window that fighters have is very limited and urged Diaz to go out there and make as much as he can in the limited time that he has. He said that for Diaz to say that he wants to retire after the loss is something that he has "zero respect" for.
However, it isn't that surprising because Diaz has teased retirement quite a few times before, particularly in his star-making year 2016. Michael Bisping, on the other hand, knows what it's like to headline Madison Square Garden and take a loss, as he was dethroned by UFC legend Georges St-Pierre two years ago in 2017.
Is Bisping right to criticize Diaz for the way he's handled his defeat? Voice your opinions in the comments below!
