Nate Diaz fumes at defeat by Leon Edwards as he claims he would beat the Brit in a ‘REAL fight’ after he survived a late scare to record 10th-straight UFC victory on his opponent’s Octagon return at UFC 263
- Nate Diaz claims he would beat Leon Edwards in a ‘real fight’ after UFC 263 loss
- The fan-favourite, 36, made his return to the Octagon after 18 months out
- However, Edwards rode out a majority decision win despite being rocked late
- Diaz says if the fight had gone on longer he would have had his hand raised
Nate Diaz has bemoaned his loss to Leon Edwards on his UFC return as the favourite claimed that he would defeat his British rival in a ‘real fight’ after the lightweight title contender survived a late scare in the fifth round.
Edwards, 29, recorded his tenth-successive UFC victory in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday night after dominating the Stockton Slugger for the majority of their five-round contest.
Diaz, 36, typically comes on strong in the latter rounds and he did not disappoint, landing a huge left hand that left Edwards on unsteady legs and in survival mode for the final minute of the welterweight fight.
Nate Diaz claims he would beat rival Leon Edwards in a ‘real fight’ after his UFC 263 defeat
Diaz, 36, had Edwards, 29, badly hurt in the dying moments of their five-round contest
The judges awarded the fight in the Birmingham-based athlete’s favour, winning 49-46 across the board, but Diaz reflected that had the fight lasted a few more rounds, he would have had his hand raised at UFC 263.
‘At the end of the day, I feel like he won or whatever, but I feel like I’m the better fighter still regardless, and I feel like the peak of the fight is what matters anyway in the end,’ he told reporters.
‘No hate on Leon, congratulations to him and why would you fight anybody but the top guy if you’re going to fight at all. I wish it would’ve went my way, but it’s all good.
The Briton survived the threat and held on for a comfortable 49-46 unanimous decision win
Diaz gave credit to Edwards but bemoaned the fact his most successful moment came late
‘Fight was a wrap,’ Diaz added, when asked how the fight would have developed had there been more rounds. ‘In a real fight in the real world, that’s a wrap. So, yeah. He was sleep-walking.’
The American also revealed that an injury in camp had effected his motivation for the contest, and that while he was in the octagon he felt he was ‘walking through’ to his next opponent.
‘I got cut in training, that’s why we had to push the fight back for a month,’ Diaz added. ‘I kind of lost all motivation to train and work out hard and all that, so I kind of just lingered around for a month to get ready for war like that.
‘I just kind of winged it. I was just kind of walking through that fight to get to the next opponent in this whole game. I didn’t feel like I was really in any danger.
The American says he ‘winged it’ on his UFC return and is looking for another fight soon
‘Of course, I got cut and that f***ing sucks, but I wasn’t motivated in training and I was just trying not to use any energy anywhere. Was just kind of in cruise control.’
Diaz’s Phoenix defeat was his first fight since losing to Jorge Masvidal at UFC 244 in November 2019, and the 36-year-old insisted he wants to be back in action in the next ‘three or four months’.
‘I’m ready to get back in there. Just to heal up. If I was unscathed I would be back in next week. I just wasn’t motivated to train anymore because I already put in the hard work for the next fight in Texas where it was supposed to be.
‘It had to linger on for another f***ing month and it just sucked so I just rolled with the punches and did what I had to do to get here.’