'The Rock' Responds to Nate Diaz Saying He Picked The Wrong Side At UFC 244

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has broken his silence about Nate Diaz's claim that he rooted for Jorge Masvidal in the UFC 244 main event fight. The UFC welterweights, Diaz and Masvidal, headlined the New York fight card earlier this month as they battled for the one-and-done 'baddest motherf****er' title. After three rounds of intense exchange, the doctor called off the fight as Diaz sustained a nasty cut above his right eye, resulting to a technical knockout win for Masvidal. It was the third straight victory for 'Gamebred' this year, making him the strongest candidate for the next title shot, while Diaz suffered his first loss since returning to action last August. Johnson, a former WWE star, was in attendance at the Madison Square Garden as he was tapped by the Nevada-based promotion to award the BMF belt to the winner. In the post-event press conference, Diaz was a picture of frustration. Aside from questioning the doctor stoppage, the Stockton slugger also accused Johnson of unfair treatment.

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📸 @nickmcd209

A post shared by Nate Diaz (@natediaz209) on Oct 21, 2019 at 2:55am PDT

'He Can Get It Too'

Diaz said it should have been Mike Tyson who awarded the belt as Johnson comes from the east coast like Masvidal.

”F**k The Rock too, man," the UFC fan-favourite stated, per MMA Fighting.

“That motherf**ker over here playing me. See him over here smiling with Masvidal. Should have had Mike Tyson handing out a belt if anybody." "I don’t give a f**k about any belt anyway, but he can get it too.”

”N**ga, he’s on that side, f**k him. I’m on the west coast side, Mike Tyson should have been here anyway, he’s the baddest man on the planet, right? He should have been the one over here.”

With his frustration on 'The Rock,' Diaz said he is open to fighting the movie star. “The Rock’s cool, I like Ballers. But he picked the wrong side, he picked the other side so he can get it too" "He can get his ass whupped too, straight up. With all due respect, he can get it too.”

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My brotha @gamebredfighter looked sharp in that octagon. Evolved skill set. Rare air. Promise kept. The Baddest Muthaf*cka on the planet. Congrats @gamebredfighter. #BMF #UFC244 #305 @hhgarcia41 📸

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Nov 3, 2019 at 4:37pm PST

Not Surprised

More than a week after the callout, Johnson has finally responded to Diaz's claims. The former wrestling star said Diaz was just being himself when the comments were made. “I wasn’t surprised at Nate’s comments because that’s the Nate that we all know and love,” he told Ariel Helwani, (transcript from MMA News). “He is as advertised. Nate, he gets it. He knows that me and Jorge we’re boys, we’re from Miami. We have a lot of deep connections down there." "A lot of the fighters we know, a lot of the coaches and trainers that we know, a lot of the gyms that we’ve been to down there. So there’s a connection, so no I was totally fine with it. He gets it.” 'The Rock' insisted that promoting Masvidal was never on his plans coming into UFC 244 as he believes being neutral would help the fight sell more. “Again I went into the fight, I wanted to be as neutral as possible when I was promoting it because as we’re leading up to it and selling it on pay-per-view I didn’t want to come out and say, ‘Jorge’s my boy and he’s gonna win,'” “No, I just wanted to be neutral and I thought that was the best, smartest, strategic play to get as many new eyes on this fight as possible and again help impact in my own little way the bottom line."

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Walkin’ the hallowed halls of @thegarden towards the @ufc octagon. The mana builds. Crowd awaits. #UFC244 #BMFBelt @hhgarcia41 📸

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Nov 3, 2019 at 11:04am PST

(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Nate Diaz)