Michael Bisping recounts hilarious first encounter with Nate Diaz

Nate Diaz has one of the most interesting personalities in MMA. The Stockton, California native is loved not only for his fan-friendly fighting style but also for his fearlessness, his brash attitude, his trash talk, and of course, his habit of flipping the bird.

During a recent episode of his podcast Believe You Me, UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping recalled his first meeting with the ever entertaining Diaz. The champ’s story sums up Diaz’s personality perfectly.

“The first time I met Nate Diaz, I was in Denver,” he said (via BloodyElbow.com). “There was a UFC event there and I was in for fight week doing some stuff. I was scheduled to fight Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller, we were in Denver promoting the fight. I was in the elevator and Nick Diaz – sorry, Nate Diaz – walks in. I’m like ‘Hey Nate, how you doing’ and we shake hands briefly.”

“No conversation,” Bisping continued. “It was just one of those elevator rides, there was a few other people in there so everyone is standing there, kind of looking at the ceiling or whatever, waiting for the ride to pass. And then the doors open. Nate gets out, and just as the doors are shutting, he leans back in and goes ‘Oh, I forgot man. F*ck Miller!’ and puts the two fingers up and walks off. And I just thought that was hilarious, it was great. I just thought ‘Okay, I like this guy. He’s cool.'”

Diaz’s “f*ck Miller” comment most likely stemmed from the infamous brawl between the Diaz camp and Miller, which occurred in the Strikeforce cage back in 2010, shortly after Jake Shields defeated Dan Henderson.

What do you think of this hilarious Nate Diaz story from Michael Bisping? Does it surprise you at all? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/29/2017.