Ahead of this weekend’s back-to-back Bellator shows in Honolulu, Hawaii, UFC star Nate Diaz raised eyebrows with one particular tweet.
In a post to the social media site that quickly went viral, Diaz wrote “I’m tryin (sic) get on this [Bellator MMA] card in April wit (sic) my boy [Yancy Medeiros] in Hawaii.”
The online MMA fan community erupted, with numerous stories instantly cobbled together throwing Diaz back in the headlines. After all, whenever Diaz says just about anything, interest spikes. Of course, there was zero chance of any such fight happening: Diaz still has one more fight on his current UFC contract.
Asked about Diaz’s comments during the Bellator 278 and Bellator 279 media day on Wednesday, Hawaii’s Medeiros said the tweet was Diaz displaying his genius, gangster side, and giving Yancy himself some clout. All in just a handful of characters.
“Nate just being Nate. Just being a genius and a gangster and giving me clout at the same time,” Medeiros told media outlets in person and online including Cageside Press. “That’s my brother, bro, or in Hawaii we call in palāla.”
Diaz, he added, is “definitely someone I’m very close to and look up to,” Medeiros continued. “He’s just being the homie, giving me some clout, letting the Twitter get wild for a minute. That’s what it was. But he’s here, he’s here to watch the fight and support me.”
When Medeiros returns to action at Bellator 279 on Saturday, it will be his first time fighting in Hawaii since 2009. Which has created an interesting feeling ahead of the bout.
“I’m at home, but the fight week and everything has been so foreign for me, because I’m just like waking up every day like— I’m just going to practice again,” noted Medeiros. “It’s great though. Everything happens for a reason, that’s why I’m here.”
On a one fight deal with Bellator, something he discussed with Cageside Press previously, Medeiros said that “I come to entertain. Every company I go into, I be the best company man I can. I took this fight on a one-fight deal just so I could give back. Give back to Hawaii, show Bellator that I’m here to be a company man, and give you guys a show. Pay the bills, man. Take care of my responsibilities. Go forward from there. Keep living with Aloha.”
Watch the full Bellator Hawaii media day scrum with Yancy Medeiros above. The Hawaiian fights Emmanuel Sanchez this Saturday, April 23, 2022 at Bellator 279 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
