Brendan Schaub: Nate Diaz won’t make UFC Hall of Fame, made mistake ripping ‘MMA royalty’ Daniel Cormier
Brendan Schaub knows whose side he’s on in the Nate Diaz vs. Daniel Cormier feud.
A surprising war of words erupted this past week when Diaz took aim at Cormier for being critical of fighters in his role as a UFC analyst, and Cormier fired back by referring to Diaz as “average.” It’s unclear why Diaz singled out Cormier in the first place during his anti-analyst rant, but Schaub has a theory as to the former UFC fighter’s motivations.
“I think for some people it works,” Schaub said on YouTube. “Like, some people are like, ‘F*ck yeah, man, f*ck those guys.’ It’s his thing, and it’s working; he’s making money, so I don’t hate on him for any of that. The issue is these guys that he’s talking shit about is, if you know anything about the sport of mixed martial arts, every guy he talks shit about is a better fighter and has a better career. So that’s why he’s going for those guys. He’s just barking up the wrong tree when he talks shit to Daniel Cormier. You’re talking about MMA royalty. Now, some of you that are new to the sport will be like, ‘Nate Diaz is royalty.’ He’s not. He’s not. He’s famous, but there’s a difference between being famous and accomplished.
“So, Nate Diaz had a good career. Just so you’re aware, he will never make it to the Hall of Fame as an individual fighter. Now, maybe his fight against one of his previous opponents, maybe Conor McGregor, he might have a fight to make the Hall of Fame, but as far as him as individual accomplishments, he won’t make the UFC Hall of Fame. That’s just not real. That will never happen. I don’t know if that’s news to you guys, but he won’t.”
Schaub has had his own issues with Diaz in the past, with Schaub once going as far as to say he would “snap his f*cking neck” when Diaz mocked him for becoming emotional when discussing the struggles of his friend and fellow UFC veteran Shane Carwin. According to Schaub, Diaz has disliked him ever since Schaub appeared on a Showtime broadcast in 2017, hyping up the chances of Conor McGregor—Diaz’s longtime rival—upsetting Floyd Mayweather in a heavily hyped boxing match. When McGregor lost, Diaz gave Schaub a hard time about it, and Schaub believes there’s been beef there ever since.
In Schaub’s opinion, Diaz’s inability to separate business from personal matters is the main reason for his discontent.
“For him, he’s like, ‘Yo, these analysts breaking down fights, I don’t get it. F*ck these guys,’” Schaub said. “Yeah, but they’re not criticizing you. It’s literally their job they’re getting paid for, so I think he takes it personal and that’s where I have no issues with Nate. Truth be told, I have zero issues with him. If I saw him, I would be on guard, ready to go, which I welcome any of that, but I would just be like, ‘I don’t get where we got off on the wrong foot. I don’t get why there’s an issue between us.’”
Schaub also doesn’t understand why Diaz is so irritated by Cormier and other former fighters making the move from the cage to cageside.
“It’s like, ‘Why are you an analyst now?’” Schaub said. “I think DC’s [47]. ‘Why are you an analyst now?’ You’re talking about one of the biggest gigs in combat sports next to Joe Rogan and Jon Anik. ‘Why are you an analyst now?’ Buddy, there’s nothing more sad than when a guy’s over the hill and has to fight Jake Paul and do these other shenanigans to make their money, to make their nut. There’s nothing more sad than that when a guy’s over the hill—and it’s not that Nate can’t compete, but he’s definitely out of his prime, he’s 40—Nate Diaz has no other option than to do these kind of other-lane fights. The Jake Pauls, Mike Perry on MVP, some of these other shenanigans. There’s no other option.
“And you don’t think DC could do that? You don’t think DC could unretire and get out of his contract and fight Francis or some wild shit in MVP? Of course, he can. Nate, he doesn’t have to. He has a job he can do until he’s 70 on the biggest platform in the world.”
Another thing Cormier and Schaub have in common when it comes to being insulted by Diaz is the Stockton native taking shots at them for crying in public. Cormier was visibly upset after his second loss to Jon Jones (later overturned to a no-contest when Jones tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs), and Schaub didn’t hold back his feelings when discussing Carwin.
Schaub agrees with Cormier that Diaz’s insistence on playing it cool, win or lose, may have contributed to his failure to become a world champion.
“He has an issue with crying,” Schaub said. “When he came at me it was, ‘Oh, you’re crying.’ He came at DC, ‘Oh, you’re crying.’ I know you’re coming from Sacramento, it’s this rough hood and all that. So I think to him he thinks crying is like a sign of weakness, which maybe the area he’s from, I guess. But do you realize DC was crying because he lost a world title? Because he put his heart and his soul into that fight, and it didn’t go his way because he lost to the greatest fighter of all time. So the reason he’s crying is his dream was to be the best, and he was a champion. … If Nate Diaz cared as much about fighting as DC did, maybe he could relate more to that.”
