Thursday afternoon brought news to celebrate for fans of the eccentric Diaz Brothers, known as the ‘Nick Diaz Army’, as the City of Las Vegas dropped the misdemeanor battery charges against the younger brother, Nate, according to his lawyer.
Brett Okamoto was first to report that the charges had been dismissed, which stem from an altercation last August with a bouncer at the nightclub Omnia inside Las Vegas’ famous Caesar’s Palace casino.
TMZ Sports first covered on the charges in December of 2024, which include allegations of him shoving the bouncer and striking him in the face with “an open right hand.”
Diaz, who first achieved mainstream appeal after beating Conor McGregor at UFC 196, cannot deny the first part, after the video’s onset showed him shoving the bouncer.
However, one argument from his lawyer is that the alleged “open right hand” is more of a shove than a true ‘Stockton Slap’, the Diaz Bros’ infamous open-palmed hook.
Former UFC Fighter Nate Diaz getting into an altercation with a Bouncer at a club pic.twitter.com/4t1nkOT9cq
— Southland Post (@SouthlandPost) September 5, 2024
The Diaz attorney, Ross Goodman, who represents several other UFC athletes in the company’s home state of Nevada, also argued that the video was selectively cut to paint his client in a bad light.
“The selected portion of the video that went viral omitted the prelude, that Nate pushed back the security guard in his face to create space,” Goodman said to ESPN. “It appears that one security guard sought a confrontation by repeatedly pushing and getting in Nate’s face. In the face of an overaggressive security guard, Nate showed great restraint and poise in trying to deescalate the altercation.”
Nate left the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2022 after beating fellow elder statesman and fan favorite Tony Ferguson.
The Stockton, California native then moved on to earn lucrative purses in boxing, where he lost via unanimous decision to Jake Paul and then won by majority decision in a rematch with Jorge Masvidal, avenging his loss in their BMF title fight at UFC 244 in 2019.
The 209 is feeling fine 🔥🥊
Nate Diaz gets the win over Jorge Masvidal via decision. #DiazMasvidal pic.twitter.com/Vnz5NwHvFE
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) July 7, 2024
Diaz remains one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts history, and fans of MMA do claim him despite his recent foray into celebrity boxing.
Yet at age 39, after a full and successful career, he seems content to bide his time while picking the fights that will add more than a drop in the bucket of his fortune.
#OnThisDay in 2016: Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz met in the Octagon for the first time…
📺 Watch in full on @UFCFightPass now! pic.twitter.com/HUwSOl6pRS
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 5, 2024
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