Nate Diaz got told about his elevated levels, and simply put, he wasn’t having it.
Diaz has been famously against steroid usage in his career, and so to be told by USADA that they’d found some banned substances in his system during a test made him immediately raise eyebrows and defiantly reject the idea.
So angered by the suggestion was Diaz, that when he was told he could say nothing and continue on to fight at UFC 244 on Saturday, he simply went to social media to announce what he’d been told and that he had no intention of fighting for the UFC until they and USADA completely cleared his name of any wrongdoing.
“I wasn’t happy about any of it actually, I think it was all a big old bunch of bullshit,” Diaz said, speaking on the UFC 244 conference call. “So I didn’t want to not be apart of the big old fucking secret. I think the thing about people on steroids is people on steroids don’t talk about steroids out loud. If we’re going to have to get down to the point, let’s get down to the point, I’m not gonna hold a secret and figure it out afterwards, we need to get this out the way because I got shit I gotta put my mind on.
“If we gotta cancel the fight, then that’s what we’re gonna have to do, but we gotta get that shit out the way, because that’s whack. I thought it was all a bunch of bullshit and made up anyway. But it’s behind us now so we can move on.”
In Diaz mind, the whole thing sounded suspicious, especially after he’s noticed how fighter’s have found themselves in trouble for fighting without disclosing their pre-fight USADA issues.
For that, Diaz wasn’t prepared to fight without knowing for a fact it wasn’t an issue.
“I knew I was cleared to go anyway, so I was like, ‘Fix it, you guys are gonna make up some bullshit eventually so let’s clear it the fuck up right now,” Diaz said. “And you guys and I’m gonna be on fair grounds. It ain’t gonna be on no after the fight, ‘This is why he won or lost’ type of shit. I ain’t playing that shit. It’s going to be on fair grounds … So if you guys are trying to play me like there’s any type of cheating or any bullshit or anything, then I’m not involved. Because I don’t want to have no excuses for winning or losing. I just want it to be a fair fight like it should be.
“I’ve seen other people get in trouble for this type of thing before, they keep a big old secret, because they caught them and say, ‘Let’s keep this on the low, because it might ruin the show’, and I’m like, ‘There is no fucking if we’re not gonna do it right, so let’s make it happen right’. Then the second I tell them, it’s all a sudden right, it’s cleared. It’s kinda funny to me, the whole situation. I’m gonna leave it behind me, I’m done with all that shit now, but if they wanna call me on that kind of shit again, we can test everyday for the rest of my life, because I’ve been taking the same shit I’ve been taking for the past 5 years.
“Don’t try and play me, because I ain’t playing back.”
And it was that fear of the whole story coming out after his contest with Masvidal that meant Diaz was simply not prepared to engage in it all.
“It was just a big secret and it was shady and it sounded like some shit that people on steroids or involved in,” Diaz said. “I didn’t feel comfortable with that, so I’m like let’s just put it on the table then. If you tell me I’m gonna test positive for some shit, and everyone’s gonna freak out and go buck wild, then I don’t even wanna fight. It’s only cheating if you jump in under the influence of that shit. So let’s just say I did accidentally take that shit, which I didn’t, let’s just say I did though, well then let’s just fucking fight in a couple months when that shit wears off. I have no problem with that, I don’t care about ruining your show, you ain’t ruining my whole legacy.”
Oh, and if you’re wondering, Diaz is not above admitting he thinks the entire thing was a set up.
“Of course [I think it was a set up],” Diaz said. “I shouldn’t even get into the details, but every time after a fight, relationships change with the whole company. Every fight. You know what I’m saying? What if I win this fight? For one, I’m already the baddest motherfucker in the whole game, I made all this happen, so the title’s already mine. Now what if I win this fight? They can’t have a real motherfucker like me owning the whole shit and being hard because too many people gonna hear it. I ain’t trying to bust nobody out, but I feel like they need some kind of leverage over me to keep me from being king of the whole shit.
“I don’t feel like everybody’s ever been on my side in this shit. I’m not the guy they ever wanted to be. I don’t know. It’s confusing as hell to me, and it’s hard to trust anybody in this.”
