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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Farah Hannoun

Daniel Cormier takes issue with Nate Diaz saying he’s not a fighter: ‘We are not in the same stratosphere’

The back-and-forth between Daniel Cormier and Nate Diaz continues.

Diaz fired back at Cormier, after the former two-division champion said he’d rather not see him headline UFC 306, which is the “Noche UFC” event at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

Cormier was not happy with Diaz calling him a b*tch.

“First off, I have no problem with Nate Diaz,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I have no issue with him. I don’t really know Nate. I’ve always respected Nate for what he did inside the octagon. I’m a lot of things, guys, but one thing I’m not is nobody’s b*tch. I’m not a b*tch. So my question is this: When did it become OK for men to start calling each other out their name like that?

“When did that become OK? I don’t disrespect nobody in my assessments of them. I try my best to be as fair as I can. I don’t quite understand why people think it’s OK to attack you in that way, especially calling you outside your name like that. It’s not cool, man. You don’t get to just talk to people any way you want.”

Diaz also said Cormier isn’t a fighter, prompting him to go on a rant by comparing their accolades and resume.

“To say I’m not a fighter, I don’t get it,” Cormier said. “Again, I feel like I was actually pretty fair to this dude because when you really think about it, to say I’m not a fighter, when you really think about it – Nate Diaz was fun, Nate Diaz got to a championship opportunity. But if I’m not a fighter, what’s that make him? What does that make him? If I did what I did, and he did what he did, what’s that make him? One time I was talking to Khabib (Nurmagomedov) when Nate was coming at Khabib, and Khabib said something to the effect of, ‘This man has lost 12 or 13 fights in his career. Daniel, I can’t respond to this guy. I can’t take this guy serious because who loses to that many people?’

“How can you call me not a fighter when you have had those instances? What did I do? I fought the best. I fought the best in the world constantly. So to say I’m not a fighter because I have an opinion on whether or not I want to see him headline the Sphere …

“The reality is, one thing we will not do is compare myself to Nate Diaz, because it’s different levels – much different. I’m a champion – two weight classes. I lost three times in my career – four if you count the fight that was called a no contest (because of a Jon Jones positive test) … four times, two guys. We are on much different wavelengths. We are on much different planets. We are not in the same stratosphere in terms of fighters – we’re not – and it’s time for me to stop allowing people to attack or come at me in these ways when I’m doing my job.”

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