After a bloody and frustrating return to MMA, Nate Diaz made it clear he’s not interested in moving on from Mike Perry just yet.
Following a doctor’s stoppage loss at MVP MMA on Saturday night that left Diaz dealing with a badly cut eye and limited vision, the former UFC star admitted the fight ended under circumstances he hated, but ultimately understood, while immediately calling for a rematch with Perry as soon as possible.
“Yeah I was mad, but I understand. My eye was leaking out a lot and they knew I wasn’t going to be able to get nothing done out there,” Diaz told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.
“I don’t think he would have done much more either, but I was blinded by blood on the right side.”
Diaz (21-14) admitted that getting back into MMA was tougher than he thought it would be. After taking mostly boxing bouts Diaz said that this one felt more like a warm up back to MMA, and that now he’d be ready to go.
“I didn’t actually feel good at all. I felt like sh*t. I just started back in it, I just got back to MMA, they were asking me how I been. I’m like, I never was gone, but then as I got closer I realized…MMA’s hard work. It’s a lot of work,” he said.
“I felt like I just started to callous everything up, and my body started to get hard. Everything started to move right together. Started to fall into rhythm and then it was time to fight.”
In the cage Diaz asked for a rematch with Perry, and it’s what he hopes happens next. He’ll be back to training in hopes that the fight materializes sooner than later.
“Right now, yeah, that’s what I want ASAP. Heal up and I’ll start running on Monday,” he said.
“I got a lot of making up to do.”
Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Nate Diaz above.
