Nate Diaz has no interest in slowing down after his latest fight. In fact, he already wants another shot at Mike Perry.
The longtime fan favorite suffered a TKO loss Saturday night in the co-main event of MVP MMA’s first event at Intuit Dome. The fight aired live on Netflix and quickly turned into a violent back-and-forth contest filled with heavy exchanges and nonstop pressure.
Team Ends Fight After Brutal Second Round
Perry walked away with the win after Diaz’ team stopped the fight due to cuts on Diaz’s face. Even with the damage piling up, Diaz left the arena focused on one thing: running it back as soon as possible.
Diaz showed his usual toughness throughout the fight, but Perry’s punches opened severe cuts that became impossible to ignore.
By the second round, Diaz was bleeding heavily around his right eye. Before the cageside physician could step in, his team had already thrown in the towel.
It marked another difficult ending for Diaz, who has dealt with cut-related stoppages before because of years spent in wars inside the cage.
“Yeah, I was mad, but I understand,” Diaz said. “I was leaking out a lot, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get that done out there. I don’t think he would have got much more done either, but I was blinded by blood on the right side.”
Diaz Says Retirement Is Far Away
The loss dropped Diaz to 21-14 as a professional, but the veteran made it clear he is nowhere near finished with MMA.
“Right now, yeah, let’s start that ASAP, ASAP,” Diaz said during the post-fight press conference. “Heal up, and I’ll start running on Monday.”
Diaz has competed professionally since 2004 and now owns 35 MMA fights across multiple eras of the sport. At 41 years old, he still believes there is more left for him to accomplish.
“The show goes on,” Diaz said. “I felt the same way as when I lost when I was younger and the same as the last time. I don’t have a checkout time, you know what I’m saying?”
“That sht’s forever. And when I do check out, I don’t need to be fcking crying about it to the f*cking media and put my gloves down in the ring.”
“You fcking go out into the woods and have your fcking life then, you know what I’m saying? That’s like, you’ve got to explain yourself why you’re not fighting anymore? Do whatever the fck you want. ”