UFC champion Islam Makhachev details Nate Diaz ‘water-bottle’ incident
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The fighters threw bottles at each other while backstage at a press conference in December. Islam Makhachev has explained his run-in with Nate Diaz in December, when the pair threw water bottles at each other at a UFC press conference. On the week of UFC 310, Makhachev took part in an early press conference for UFC 311, where he defends the lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan on 18 January.
![[UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/05/09/newFile-1.jpg)
Backstage at the press conference, the Russian came across UFC legend Diaz, and chaos ensued. “One of [our] guys wore a mask. He was sick a little bit and wore the mask, and maybe Diaz was thinking it’s Khabib and showed him [his middle finger], you know? But that day Khabib was not in Vegas, he was in some other country.”.
![[Nate Diaz ahead of his final UFC fight, in 2022]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/04/27/18/Nate_Diaz_Arrest_Boxing_14989.jpg)
Makhachev was referring to his coach and childhood friend, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who held the UFC lightweight title before retiring from fighting in 2020. Diaz has a history with Khabib and once claimed he “slapped” the Russian. “You know what’s interesting?” Makhachev continued. “Maybe five, six months ago, I met Diaz in the elevator in the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. He goes to me and says, ‘Respect, respect, respect,’ but what changed now? A lot of cameras come, and always people change.
“We don’t have something. If I have something with him, I can fix it in the Wynn Hotel. But he came to me and said ‘respect’ and then he [went]. But when the camera comes, he’s changing. And people think I started this! I’m not starting this.
“Security comes and they want to send my team from the arena and I’m like, ‘Hey, it’s not the guys’ fault!’ [We’re told:] ‘Sorry, you guys have to leave. You have to stay and do an interview, and your team has to leave.’ I said, ‘No, it’s not working like this. If they leave, I leave with them,’ and they cancelled all interviews.
