UFC 263: Nate Diaz ‘lost all motivation’ to fight Leon Edwards a month ago – ‘I kind of just winged it all’
- American reflects on delaying fight for four weeks because of injury and says he wants Octagon return in three or four months
- UFC president Dana White says ‘he was bleeding out both sides of his head and was still doing what the Diaz brothers do’
UFC fan favourite Nate Diaz said he “lost all motivation” to fight Leon Edwards having sustained an injury above his eye leading up to their fight.
“It went how it went. I got a cut in training, that’s why we had to push the fight back for a month to get ready for a war like that. S*** happens in the fight but I’m ready for that. At the end of the day, he won or whatever, but I felt I’m still the better fighter,” Diaz said at the post-fight press conference, highlighting how he almost caused a huge upset after wobbling Edwards in the fifth round.
“The peak of the fight is what matters, but anyway congratulations to him. I wish it went my way but it’s all good.”
“No [it wasn’t part of the game plan], I kind of just winged it all, walking through that fight, trying to get to the next point in this whole game. I didn’t feel like I was in any danger – of course I got cut and that [expletive] sucks, but I wasn’t motivated in training and I wasn’t trying to use any energy anywhere. I was just on cruise control,” Diaz said, adding that Edwards was “sleepwalking” after landing his straight left.