Nate Diaz details the toughest fight of his career against Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 15

Nate Diaz is set to headline UFC 244 against Jorge Masvidal for the promotions new BMF title.

Many think this scrap will be one of the toughest fights for Diaz, coming a close second to Conor McGregor. Yet, that is far from the case as the Stockton-native revealed Josh Neer was his toughest fight to date.

“Josh Neer – he’s not in the UFC anymore – I fought him. He was the hardest fight I had,” Diaz said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “He fought my brother two, three rounds, and they were just f*****g squabbing. That’s another guy in the category, too, and I knew fighting him that he was the man. He fought my bro, he was mad that Nick beat him, so he probably wanted to whip my ass all over the place.

“That was the hardest fight because I’m like, ‘This fool’s crazy, and he’s not going to try and hold me,’” Diaz continued. “I just tapped out four black belts or something. And, in the UFC – like, good black belts. I was a purple belt. I was like, ‘These fools are getting easier and easier.’ I was like, ‘This guy is probably a white belt. He’s not even ranked in jiu-jitsu.’

“And back then, I was trying to get a black belt, so I knew. I was like, ‘Man, this guy isn’t even ranked – he’s going to be hard and crazy, but at least he’s probably just a white belt.’ And I fought him and he was the hardest fight I had. Those black belts were easy compared to him,” he added. “And it was a real good fight if you ever look back at that fight. It was a serious fight. We were fighting. I was going for the kill, he was going for the finish.”

Back at UFC Fight Night 15, in 2008, Nate Diaz and Neer fought to a split-decision where Diaz got his hand raised. The scrap was also awarded the ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus for the event.

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This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/30/2019.