Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight Gilbert Melendez recently told the mixed martial arts (MMA) media that he liked to run with Nate Diaz, because the no-nonsense Stocktonite was intimidating and kept fools at a distance. How intimidating? Enough to strike fear in the hearts of heavyweights.
And most of us heard that and thought, "Cool story, bro."
Well, it turns out "El Nino" wasn't telling tall tales about his fellow "Skrap Pack" lightweight. In fact, former UFC heavyweight Pat Barry recently corroborated the urban legend with the boys over at Middle Easy, explaining how Diaz threw shade with nothing more than a glance.
Recognize.
"Yeah, it happened. My first time meeting Nate Diaz consisted of me going ... 'Oh shit, please don't...' I thought it was over, I thought it was about to happen. I straight got scared. I got scared."
Don't fuck wit the 209, son.
Barry likely ran into Diaz at some point either before or after filming for The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 20, where his longtime girlfriend, Rose Namajunas, competed under Team Melendez (more on that here). Nate was brought in to assist in case Anthony Pettis and his "Showtime" crew tried to get loud.
They didn't (here's why).
Diaz could probably do some of that intimidating inside the Octagon, but his inability to see eye-to-eye with UFC President Dana White has kept him on the shelf since last November. While it sucks that he's forced to sit around and do nothing, he's in a much better position than his older brother Nick.
Find out why right here.
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