Nate Diaz got one chance to steal a win Saturday night. After being battered and bloodied by Leon Edwards for four rounds, Diaz landed a clean right-left combo late in the fifth and sent Edwards staggering backward.
At that point, the prudent thing would have been to press forward, throw more strikes and try to complete the rally. Instead, Diaz did this:
Edwards survived the round and walked out of the Octagon with a unanimous decision victory in the welterweight bout.
UFC 263: Live results, highlights
Diaz appeared only slightly disappointed with taking the L as Joe Rogan interviewed him afterward. There was business to attend to.
Diaz’s seeming lack of a killer instinct had Twitter taking its shots, but his ability to go the distance and almost win through all the blood earned him respect:
And once again Nate Diaz shows up and even after losing a fight his stock rises. That flurry is all that’ll be talked about! It’s about memories /land Diaz leaves people with memories. #ufc263
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) June 13, 2021
Nate Diaz: Smokes weed at preflight presser. Gets beaten up for 24 minutes. Bleeds a lot. Nearly wins. Invites everyone to his house for a party. #legend
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) June 13, 2021
i have the same kind of love for nate diaz that i do for russell westbrook. he has no brakes, he often loses and he will never die
— Jon Bois (@jon_bois) June 13, 2021
Nate Diaz doesn’t make any sense
— Kazeem Famuyide 🍎 (@Kazeem) June 13, 2021