Nate Diaz absolutely tears into Ilia Topuria with savage Conor McGregor comparison
Nate Diaz has finally fired back at Ilia Topuria and made a brutal comparison to Conor McGregor after the former two-division UFC champion made some harsh comments.
Four months ago, Topuria called Diaz a "punching bag" after the 41-year-old claimed he could beat him in a fight. “Bro, he sucks; he's a punching bag. This is 2016 Nate Diaz!" Topuria exclaimed. "It doesn't matter bro; he sucks, he's a f**king punching bag.”
Diaz returned to MMA for the first time in almost four years in May on Ronda Rousey's undercard at the inaugural Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) event, tasting a brutal defeat to Mike Perry after his corner stopped the fight in the second round.
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Nate Diaz brutally compares Ilia Topuria to Conor McGregor
Jake Paul has already called out Nate Diaz for a fight under his MVP umbrella as he plans to finally make his MMA debut in 2027.
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At the same time, it appears Diaz still has bad blood with Topuria, who suffered his first defeat in 18 MMA fights against Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 in June.
Topuria sustained serious facial injuries and even confirmed that he went blind during his fourth-round TKO loss, with the 29-year-old making his first public post almost two weeks ago.
The two-minute-long video, in collaboration with JD Sports, was accompanied by the caption: “We are back", after UFC president Dana White confirmed that Topuria could have a rematch with Gaethje or come against the divisive Paddy Pimblett.
Whatever fight the Spanish-Georgian chooses, he won't be met with support from Diaz, who threw Topuria's own "punching bag" insult back in his face while using his first professional loss as a way to taunt him with a brutal comparison to Conor McGregor.
"Ilia is lame as f*ck. He is a punching bag. He called me a punching bag," Diaz told the MMA Junkie YouTube channel.
"He got his a*s whooped, and they made a big deal out of him, just like they did with Conor [McGregor] when he first started coming up. They pumped him up early before he had been in a real fight. So that’s what happened to him when he got into a real fight with Justin Gaethje. Now look at you.”
Diaz famously handed McGregor his first UFC loss via second-round submission at UFC 196 in 2016, and then the Irishman went on to lose four of his next seven fights, most recently losing to Max Holloway in July after suffering an ACL injury inside 69 seconds.
What Dana White has said about Ilia Topuria's UFC return
Topuria will want to bounce back from his devastating defeat immediately, and when quizzed for his thoughts on both a rematch with Gaethje and a clash with Pimblett, White said: “Both sound good to me.”
White said: “They’re both great — we don’t lose with either one of those fights. They’re both great fights, I don’t know [which sounds better, or is more likely].”
“Obviously, the rematch with Gaethje is incredible, and a Paddy Pimblett fight is amazing, you know? As bad as those two hate each other,” he concluded.
A blockbuster fight with either or perhaps another challenger, is therefore on the cards in 2027, as excitement levels begin to raise for his return to the Octagon.
Topics: Nate Diaz, UFC, MMA, Conor McGregor
Thomas Griffin