Conor McGregor has found an unlikely ally a little over a week out from his blockbuster boxing clash with Floyd Mayweather next weekend, with his biggest rival in the UFC, Nate Diaz having spoken out against the Irishman’s haters in the boxing community.
“Boxers are clowns sometimes now,” Diaz told TMZ Sports. “I’m never taking the MMA fighters over the boxer’s side when it comes to punching and s–t, but I’m like, don’t be talking s–t. [They say MMA fighters] ‘would get embarrassed, it’s ridiculous’ yeah, but we’re talking real fighting now you one-dimensional boxing f—s. This is real life s–t, you’ll get embarrassed.”
Diaz holds a win over McGregor in the UFC, and he was keen to point out that Mayweather would never stand a chance of doing that if he was to fight ‘The Notorious’ in the Octagon under MMA rules.
“All the boxers are criticizing Conor like ‘Conor will get embarrassed’, but that’s a real arrogant thing to say. Wanna know something that’s even more embarrassing? Is if Floyd fought Conor in an MMA match. Would be more embarrassing than if Conor fought Floyd in a boxing match. [Floyd] would get mounted and laughed at, and slapped around [and Conor] would smile at the crowd and wave.”
Not finished there, Diaz also went on to stick up for McGregor in relation to the way he treated Paulie Malignaggi during his training camp.
“Conor should beat that guy’s ass,” Diaz said of Malignaggi. “That guy was on the internet talking s–t on him the other day. I’m like, ‘What kind of sparring partners you got?’ I’d shove that guy in the gym and beat his ass if I was Conor, like, ‘what you’re going to put me on blast about what? You don’t know s–t. What gave you the right to talk s–t, criticize if we’re working together when I could beat your ass for real?’ Don’t even speak. That’s my thoughts.”
Despite his words of support for McGregor, there’s little doubt that Diaz would be more than happy to set up another money-spinning trilogy fight with his rival in the Octagon after the dust settles on next weekend’s spectacle in Las Vegas.
