Nate Diaz has broken his silence after police issued an arrest warrant following a video emerging showing him choking out a Logan Paul lookalike.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, Diaz got into a scuffle with Rodney Petersen, a 1-0 boxer with a blue belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu.
A large brawl happened on Bourbon Street, New Orleans, erupted hours after Diaz's teammate Chris Avila beat Paul Bamba on the Misfits Boxing 6 card at the XULA Convention Center.
Diaz was seen kneeing Petersen in the stomach before choking him unconscious and leaving him on the floor and fleeing the scene.
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The Stockton slugger had earlier got into an altercation with Chase DeMoor, throwing bottles at him while sat ringside.
Petersen was left with a bloody gash on the back of his head from the nasty fall and New Orleans police confirmed Diaz had been charged with second degree battery after an arrest warrant was issued.
Diaz had remained silent on the matter until now but his representative Zach Rosenfield says the 38-year-old's lawyer Walter Becker has been in touch with the authorities and claims self-defence on his part as the Ultimate Fighter winner was "aggressively pursued".
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"Nate’s attorney Walter Becker can confirm that Nate has received word of the arrest warrant and Becker has been in contact with court authorities in New Orleans," he told MMA Fighting.
“Nate’s attorney looks forward to presenting all of the facts about this incident to the District Attorney which clearly demonstrate that a trained fighter named Rodney Petersen aggressively pursued Nate with the intention of engaging him and once doing so, Nate acted entirely in self-defence. No further comment will be made at this time.”
New footage of the incident posted online by Ariel Helwani might just back up Diaz's claim as Petersen appears to walk over to him first.
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Diaz is slated to make his boxing debut against Jake Paul on August 5 in Dallas, Texas. The Problem Child, who mocked his opponent's recent skirmish alongside brother Logan, has already set up a replacement fight.
Paul accepted rival KSI's offer to step in at 185lbs, though it brought a reaction from Diaz, who replied: "Lol why Dont u to [sic] scared p****s just fight each other august. I’ll fight someone who can really fight."
Featured Image Credit: Alamy & Twitter/@arielhelwaniTopics: UFC, Nate Diaz, Logan Paul, Jake Paul