Nate Diaz described himself as an "unstoppable force" and said he "cannot be killed" after bottles were thrown as he clashed with Conor McGregor ahead of the pair's rematch at UFC 202 on Saturday.
Having beaten McGregor at UFC 196 in March, the American takes on the Notorious again at welterweight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Unlike last time, Diaz is well-fancied to win.
The 31-year-old Californian claimed that the UFC is hoping he doesn't prevail, but he indicated there is no way he can be stopped, per UFC Tonight (via MMA Fighting's Chuck Mindenhall):
I'm too real for this whole game, and they [the UFC] can't have a guy like me winning because look at what's happening. I get paid finally, I've been stuck in contracts for years, and then they sell the UFC. It's changing baby, and it's because of what's going on here. And if people don't recognise that they're tripping.
And the same thing, that's why they threw me right back in there, they want to weed me out and get me out of here before it gets too big. But it's already an unstoppable force that's going at a high pace, so the game is in trouble with someone like me winning. So that's why. They know me and they know that, they hope I don't win.
It's all good either way though because I cannot be killed and regardless, win or lose, which I plan on winning, my voice is still going to be heard. My mic got too big to not be heard.
There was a feisty start to proceedings in the pre-fight press conference on Wednesday when a melee broke out between the two parties.
Per the Guardian, McGregor, 28, arrived late for the presser, a move that irked Diaz to the point that he stormed out shouting expletives at the Irishman and appeared to throw a water bottle at him.
McGregor, unsurprisingly, responded in kind—see below video (WARNING: NSFW CONTENT):
Diaz's older brother, Nick, later claimed McGregor hit a young boy with a bottle during the clash.
The 33-year-old posted a Snapchat video in which he asked a youngster—seemingly part of the Diaz team—whether he'd been hit by a bottle thrown by McGregor, and the boy replied in the affirmative, per Fox Sports' Damon Martin (WARNING: NSFW CONTENT):
Whether true or not, it would be no surprise if at least a few people had come off badly as a result of Diaz and McGregor's angry exchange.
The pair are far from the best of friends, and Diaz explained that he left the press conference because McGregor was late, per UFC Tonight: "Like I said, that guy [McGregor] walks in like he was the show. But I thought the show was over, so I left the show."
While the pre-fight proceedings are entertaining, they will make little difference when McGregor and Diaz step into the Octagon on Saturday.
McGregor will be out for revenge having suffered his first UFC defeat to Diaz when they last met, but the American now has an edge over his opponent as he knows he can beat him.
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