Nate Diaz fights Conor McGregor, in the biggest fight of this life, with $500,000 win, lose or draw. He is wildly popular with the hardcore MMA fanbase, because in a sport that markets itself accurately as “As Real as it Gets” Nate Diaz really is as real as it gets.
But there are some things you should know about him.
First of all, he prefers to be called Nathan
Nathan and Nick, with their sister:
IN FRONT OF THE HOTEL …
“We were like third grade or second grade here. It’s crazy,” said Nathan of this image to Ben Fowlkes for MMA Fighting, his eyes misting over. “Man we grew up in poverty, in the ghetto, just a really s****y environment. Like right here, we lived in a hotel. Us and my mom, just living in a hotel.”
“Growing up, Nick was older, he knew everything was bad. He knew other people weren’t like this, they had good stuff and nice houses. We’d be sitting in the motel waiting for my mom to get off work. My sister and I didn’t know any better. As long as cartoons were on, we were fine. But Nick, he knew. People would always mess with Nick. He’s always been like that.”
BROTHERLY ADVICE
There is zero sibling rivalry between Nathan and his older brother, Nick. Unlike most brothers, the pair have never been in a fight. This is despite the fact that their personalities are different – Nick is more serious, while Nathan is more likely to clown around.
Some of the best advice his big brother ever gave him: Whatever you do, don’t get no girl pregnant!
PESCETARIANISM
Pescatarians are semi-vegetarians, who focus on a plant-based diet, with the inclusion of fish. Each individual chooses pescatarianism for a variety of reasons, which include an ethical or nutritional belief that avoiding all meat except fish provides an optimal diet.
Both Nathan and Nate Diaz stick to a pescetarian diet.
(Meat and cheese) grosses me out nowadays,” Diaz told FOX Sports. There’s a long list of garbage they put in your food. … It’s just the way I live, man.
Jake Shields, center, is a vegetarian.
“I am a vegetarian, and mostly vegan,” he said in 2012. “I am not strict on the vegan, but I try to eat a mostly vegan diet. It gets tough using protein, because a lot of them use whey, not to mention a lot of chemicals and all kinds of stuff I don’t like putting in my body. Sun Warrior got in touch with my manager, and said they had a product out to try. It’s great. It’s all vegan, and doesn’t have a bunch of additives I don’t want in my protein. I started using it, and it is all I have used ever since.”
“Being a vegetarian is great. I have always grown up this way, so it’s not even something I really think about too much. I think a lot of people have to make the decision whether they want to do it or not, but for me it’s been easy; I never even really thought about eating meat, it’s something that always seemed a little gross to me, especially with the way animals are treated and what not. The older I got, the more I started doing a little research, and started realizing all the health benefits as well.”
DON’T ASK NATHAN TO DO THIS
Being famous has both positives and negatives. On the plus side, Nathan is proud to an inspirational figure in his hometown on Stockton, Calif. And he was a little irritated when Conor McGregor was taunting him with words like “Cholo.”
“He was doing his thing at the press conference, and he was going to try and bust me out and call me a cholo,” said Diaz to FOX Sports. “But, that’s the background where I come from.”
“It’s hardcore where I live. If he would have came from where I come from, he wouldn’t have made it, man. Nobody makes it out of where we come from and you don’t know what I’ve been through.”
“That’s the only thing that kind of irritated me. There was no logic. It was kind of uncalled for. It seemed real rehearsed, like he was plotting on trying to make a fool out of me or something.”
“I work hard. He talks all this work hard stuff. No one works harder than me.”
“If he came with me, he wouldn’t make it halfway through the week.”
One thing he doesn’t like about being famous?
I could do without the baby-holding requests, he once said.
