Brandon Royval came to the defense of former UFC superstar Nate Diaz after a backstage brawl with Islam Makhachev and his team.
Nate Diaz has played a central role in many fights and feuds throughout his illustrious martial arts career. But after an incident involving UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and his team went viral at UFC 310, a top flyweight says Diaz wasn't the instigator this time.
Diaz was in Las Vegas for UFC 310 to corner his teammate, Kron Gracie, ahead of the featherweight's scheduled fight with Bryce Mitchell. Diaz has not appeared in the UFC Octagon since his final at UFC 279, although he has appeared in several high-profile Octagonside events this year.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Just minutes before the UFC 310 ceremonial weigh-in, Diaz and Makhachev's teams almost got into a fight backstage, but instead threw bottles at each other. UFC security eventually managed to separate the two sides and cooler heads prevailed.
After footage of the bottle throwing went viral on social media, many blamed Diaz for starting the incident. Nate and Nick Diaz infamously sparked a bottle war during a UFC 202 pre-fight press conference ahead of Nate's rematch with Conor McGregor.
But according to UFC flyweight contender Brandon Royval, the Diaz/Makhachev footage didn't tell the whole story.
Brandon Royval clears Nate Diaz after UFC 310 bottle throws
In a recent interview with MMA Fighting's Damon Martin, Royval gave his version of events when he witnessed the Diaz/Makhachev backstage incident.
“Diaz walks past me and a water bottle whizzes past my head,” Royval said. 'That's what people didn't see! Diaz didn't throw that first water bottle, the first one was thrown at him… Diaz turned around and they went after him. I knew exactly who threw the water bottle! It was [Tagir Ulanbekov]I turned around and saw it…
“It was just a bad throw! I swear to God, Nate didn't start that. The video shows Nate throwing the first water bottle, but someone didn't record it because someone threw it at him first.”
This is far from the first time Diaz has gotten involved with Team Khabib fighters. During his UFC Hall of Fame career, Khabib Nurmagomedov had several altercations with Diaz inside and outside of UFC events.
Diaz could potentially return to the UFC, but will likely be kept away from Makhachev and Team Khabib. He defeated Tony Ferguson at UFC 279 before parting ways with the promotion in 2022.
Nate Diaz interested in UFC return in 2025
Since receiving his UFC release, Diaz has teased an eventual return to the Octagon, possibly for a trilogy fight with McGregor. Diaz and McGregor headlined two of the highest-grossing events in UFC history, and despite McGregor's continued hiatus, a trilogy could lure him back to the cage.
Diaz earned his first professional boxing victory earlier this year, defeating former UFC foe Jorge Masvidal by majority decision in July. Before that, he lost to Jake Paul in his boxing debut, but he's interested in potentially turning it around with the polarizing Paul.
Royval defeated previously undefeated Tatsuro Taira in his most recent UFC appearance earlier this year. He will face Manel Kape upon his return to the cage on March 1, although nothing has been confirmed by the promotion at this time.
Makhachev will make his next UFC lightweight title defense against Arman Tsarukyan in the UFC 311 headliner next month. He successfully defended the title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in his last outing.
Without additional footage to back up Royval's claims, it's difficult to substantiate the idea that Diaz didn't start the altercation with Makhachev's team at UFC 310. While Diaz has a history of scuffles, Royval wants the world to know he took the opposite approach this time. time around.
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