Veteran UFC referee Marc Goddard never considered stopping Nate Diaz 's fight against Tony Ferguson despite the periods of inactivity between the two fighters.
Diaz, 37, choked out Ferguson in the final fight of his UFC contract this past weekend after his original booking against Khamzat Chimaev was axed. It was Diaz's first win in over three years and he is now expected to part ways with the UFC after spending 15 years fighting in the promotion.
Whilst the fight between Diaz and Ferguson was entertaining, it was also somewhat confusing as Diaz disengaged at certain points to seemingly take a break. Ferguson didn't walk his rival down and also used the time to take a breather, with some fans left baffled at the bizarre sequences.
Goddard was asked if he ever considered stopping the bout when Diaz was not fighting, to which he replied: "No! Categorically not. It was just a little Diaz gamesmanship! A couple of words and we were back at it! You have to read sometimes and not take things to literal. Very happy for Nate, nothing but respect for both him and Tony. All good."
Diaz often taunts his opponents by walking away from them during his fights, with his brother Nick going viral for when he laid down on his back against Anderson Silva in their 2015 fight. Two judges had Diaz was winning every rounds before he tapped out Ferguson with a guillotine choke in the third round, with the other judge scoring the fight in Ferguson's favour.
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Now able to entertain other opportunities in his free agency, Diaz hinted at a move to boxing whilst mocking his UFC rival Conor McGregor for losing to ring legend Floyd Mayweather in 2017. The 37-year-old has been backed to cash in for big money by fighting YouTube star Jake Paul and he promised to do what McGregor couldn't by "taking over" another sport.
“I want to get out of the UFC for a minute and show all these fighters how to take over and own up another sport how you’re supposed to do it because Conor McGregor didn’t know how to do it," he said. "None of these other fighters know how to do it. So I’m going to go out there and I’m going take over another profession and become the best at that. Show everybody I’m the best at that and then I’m going to be right the f*** back here to get a motherf****** UFC title. The best title in the world."
