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Nate Diaz

Nate Diaz responded to the critics who said that he should retire from MMA following his loss to Mike Perry at MVP MMA: Rousey vs. Carano.

Diaz was stopped at the end of the second round by Perry after the cuts he received to his face caused blood to leak into his eyes, causing vision loss and forcing his corner to call a stoppage to the bout. For the 41-year-old Diaz, this was a tough loss for him as he made his return to MMA nearly four years after he last competed in the sport against Tony Ferguson at UFC 279. After a pit stop in professional boxing, Diaz returned to the steel cage against Perry, but the fight did not go as he wanted it to, with Perry winning the fight by TKO.

Now, critics are calling for Diaz to retire.

Nate Diaz Responds to His Critics

Speaking to reporters after MVP MMA concluded, Diaz responded to the critics who said that he should retire from the sport following this brutal loss to Perry.

“People will be like, ‘You lost, you should hang them up.’ Isn’t this the most violent (expletive) who just knocked out (expletive) middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and Jeremy Stephens?” Diaz said. “So, ‘You should hang them up.’ I just fought the most violent (expletive) right there. Maybe I just needed to run a little harder next time and get the job done. ‘You should hang them up.’ Maybe I don’t fight the most violent, maybe I fight the second-most violent.”

Nate Diaz Open to Mike Perry Rematch

After MVP MMA, Diaz and Perry both expressed interest in a rematch. Despite Perry clearly being the superior fighter of the two in Saturday’s contest, there was a bit of a question mark surrounding the result since it ended due to a cut stoppage and not due to a true knockout. So it does make some sense that both fighters would be interested in fighting again, especially since they were both paid very well for this first fight.

MVP MMA has already stated they are interested in promoting a second event, potentially in Sacramento, California, which is close to Diaz’s hometown of Stockton. If that’s the plan, then you can see why both of these fighters want to scrap again, especially given the big paydays.

You might think that Diaz should step away from the sport after taking so much damage against Perry, but he doesn’t have any interest in doing so. Say what you want about Diaz, but he is a legend of the sport, and he deserves to go out on his own terms. So, if he wants to keep fighting and put his body and his brain on the line, that’s up to him. When he’s ready to hang them up, he’ll be the first to let the fans know. But for now, he wants to keep competing, and he’s hoping that he gets the chance to run this back with Perry and show the cut stoppage didn’t tell the true tale of the fight.