Nate Diaz watched Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland sell UFC 328 like they wanted to tear each other apart, then saw the post-fight hugs and respect. Diaz is not buying it.
During a Face 2 Face sitdown with Mike Perry ahead of MVP MMA 1, Diaz said he has no interest in manufacturing heat just because cameras are rolling. Diaz and Perry meet on the upcoming Most Valuable Promotions MMA card, and Diaz thinks the matchup already has enough violence without a fake enemy routine.
Perry brought up the Chimaev-Strickland build first, asking Diaz how they could pull more attention after watching the UFC 328 main event turn into a trash-talk show. Diaz cut straight through it.
“They were faking the funk,” Diaz said. “And they were f*cking acting like crazy and talking all this sh*t to each other and then hugging and showing love the whole fight like some b*tches. Fake f*cking puppets. I’m f*cking cool off that sh*t.”
Watch the source clip below:
Nate Diaz says Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev “bullsh*ted” us just to sell the fight 😬
“I saw them hugging and f*cking shaking hands right off the bat. It’s f*cking like, you just bullsh*ted me.
I ain’t bullsh*ting nobody, I keep it real.”
(via @MostVpromotions) pic.twitter.com/BXEfTxFCye
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 11, 2026
Diaz Says Perry Does Not Need Fake Drama To Sell Violence
Diaz’s issue was not with fighters showing respect after a fight. His problem was the switch after weeks of selling hate, especially once Chimaev and Strickland made peace after their UFC 328 title fight.
Strickland and Chimaev’s fight-week drama kept rolling after UFC 328, and Diaz used it as the exact thing he does not want with Perry. Strickland is the current two-time UFC middleweight champion, while Chimaev is the former UFC middleweight champion. Their fight took place May 9, 2026, at Prudential Center in Newark.
“I got a fight with this dude, he’s most violent motherf*cker,” Diaz said of Perry. “He knocked out f*cking middleweight Luke Rockhold, and f*cking Jeremy Stephens, and beat a lot of good people, doing boss sh*t on the outside.”
That is the part Diaz respects. Perry is a former UFC fighter who became BKFC’s “King of Violence” champion, and his post-UFC run has been built around ugly fights instead of polished media lines. Diaz has already kept the early build respectful with Perry, including their first MVP MMA 1 faceoff.
Diaz made it clear he is not friends with Perry, but he also is not going to invent a soap opera for him.
“I was already OK with him,” Diaz said. “We’re not f*cking friends or anything like that, but I’m not gonna f*cking play around and make no fake, artificial beef with you.”
Then Diaz gave Perry his respect and promised the fight will speak for itself.
“I think you’re great,” Diaz said. “I think what you’re doing is great. I think you’re violent as f*ck, and mean and all that sh*t. I came here to fight, train hard, win and f*ck your sh*t up, just like I know you’re planning on f*cking my sh*t up, and I’m not gonna put no artificial beef out there, OK?”
Diaz also said he felt tricked by the Chimaev-Strickland build once he saw how quickly the hate disappeared.
“I saw highlights of them hugging and f*cking shaking hands right off the bat, and the whole time, it’s f*cking like you bullsh*tted me,” Diaz said. “I didn’t bullsh*t nobody. I keep it real all the way through. That’s what I got out of that fight. I didn’t watch it, but I saw the highlights and the feedback on it, and I saw the war that was f*cking bullsh*tted to us. I’m like, you don’t gotta bullsh*t me.”
Diaz has his own history with Chimaev. They were scheduled to fight at UFC 279 before the card was reshuffled, and Diaz instead submitted Tony Ferguson in the final UFC fight of his long run with the promotion.
Now Diaz is back in MMA outside the UFC against Perry, who has been chasing his own biggest fights since leaving the promotion. Perry previously said this matchup brings his biggest career purse, with Most Valuable Promotions backing the Nate Diaz fight. Diaz is not promising fake hate. He is promising the part people actually tuned in to see.
