UFC star Nate Diaz has broken his silence regarding an incident in which he choked a man out during a fight in New Orleans. He and his attorney claim he acted in self-defense.
Zach Rosenfield, Diaz’s representative, released a statement to TMZ Sports regarding the situation.
“Nate’s attorney looks forward to presenting all of the facts about this incident to the District Attorney which clearly demonstrates that a trained fighter named Rodney Petersen aggressively pursued Nate with the intention of engaging him and once doing so, Nate acted entirely in self-defense.”
“No further comment will be made at this time.”
Earlier this week, the New Orleans Police Department issued a warrant for Diaz’s arrest. He faces charges of second-degree battery for his role in the fight. Steven Marrocco of MMAFighting.com reported the news.
The incident involving Diaz comes a few months before a scheduled fight with Jake Paul. The two are set to go toe-to-toe on Aug. 5 in Dallas. The fight will be Diaz’s first-ever boxing match.
Diaz has fought in 35 career events and has claimed 22 victories. He’s earned 13 of those wins by submission and five via knockout.
More on Nate Diaz’s fight in New Orleans
Nate Diaz had reportedly been rowdy for most of the evening in New Orleans on the night of the incident, previously attending a Misfits Boxing event. Afterward, some of the chaos trickled out into the street.
Diaz choked out reported TikTok personality Rodney Petersen. The video of the altercation went viral and ultimately resulted in the UFC legend facing second-degree battery charges.
Earlier in the evening, while Diaz was attending Misfits Boxing fight between Chris Avila and Paul Bamba. The UFC star tossed a water bottle at Netflix reality star Chase DeMoor, though no reason was really provided for the action.
TMZ Sports reported that DeMoor had heckled Diaz, who was sitting behind the mixed martial artist. After Diaz threw the bottle, the two nearly came to blows. DeMoor tried to throw a chair at Diaz. So, Diaz worked himself up for a reason.
Later in the evening, DeMoor took to Twitter to mock Diaz even further.
“Nate Diaz decided to get mad and throw a prime bottle on me, that’s cute bro,” he wrote. “Just next time don’t run. And stop spending your nights in the club trying to use your dried up MMA career to pull college girls while you’re out in New Orleans.”
