Once again, Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Nate Diaz got into a bit of a scuffle, but this time at UFC 239; however, the two fighters were able to be separated from each other before the situation got chaotic.
There’s no word on how the incident started, but in the video below, you can see both men exchanging words before Khabib gets up and Diaz steps over to the Lightweight Champion. Security would break-up the potential brawl and Diaz was escorted to a different area.
This isn’t the first time the two fighters have butt heads, as both Khabib and Diaz have been enemies going back to 2015, when the Lightweight Champion got into a fight with both Diaz brothers at the Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.
Despite the beef between the two UFC stars, these two have never faced each other in the ring. Diaz seemed to eye Khabib’s lightweight title for a short period of time; however, the Stockton native has no interest in going back to the 155-pound division (transcript courtesy of
ESPN) :
“I'm just done with the 155 thing. That's in the past. I think it's time to fight at a more comfortable weight class. There's nothing for me there. I already did everything, beat everybody. I feel I'm the king of that division anyways. I mean, I am the king of that division. So I'm just going to leave it where it's at. There was no love for it. There's no opponents there. That s---'s weak.”
“On claiming to be king of a division in which unbeaten Khabib Nurmagomedov is champion: Khabib, I already slapped him in his face. I already told you guys that. And I beat Conor [McGregor] before him, quicker than him, easier than him. He's just gonna ignore that, act like whatever. He's just being a little big-headed right now. So I'm just like, whatever. I don't need to fight him anyways, because I've already got a victory over him. He's just gonna hide out and play champ and act like a good guy, f---ing Mr. f---ing Humble f---ing Khabib. I'm not buying that s---. I don't need to sit around here and f---ing chase nobody. If anybody be doing the chasing, they got to come this way. So I'm gonna retire that division as champ. I slapped both Conor and Khabib, so how does that make anybody a winner?”
Khabib Nurmagomedov is set to fight Dustin Poirier to unify the UFC Lightweight Championships later this year, while Nate Diaz will return to action against Anthony "Showtime" Pettis. Neither man has commented on the incident thus far.