Nate Diaz Mocks Ilia Topuria Following UFC White House Defeat

Nate Diaz did not hold back his thoughts on former UFC two-division champion Ilia Topuria while attending the unveiling of Scott Coker’s new Ki MMA venture. Topuria is looking to rebound after losing his lightweight title and undefeated record to Justin Gaethje at UFC White House this past June, an outcome that Diaz believes revealed flaws in the former champion.

Addressing past verbal jabs, Diaz retaliated against Topuria's prior remarks. “I don’t really give a f*ck about what they do, but Ilia is lame as f*ck,” Diaz said, according to MMA Fighting. “He called me a punching bag, he’s a f*cking punching bag.

He got his ass whooped.” Prior to the loss, Topuria had drawn comparisons to Conor McGregor, whom Diaz famously defeated in 2016. Diaz argued Topuria experienced a similar hype trajectory before colliding with Gaethje, stating that Topuria received "a little early pump-up before you’ve been in a real fight."

The 41-year-old Diaz recently competed in his first MMA bout in four years, coming off a loss to Mike Perry. Having also competed in boxing, the former UFC star revealed plans to return to combat sports in 2027 and confirmed he is "a hundred percent" interested in competing under Coker's Ki MMA banner.