Nate Diaz praises former UFC opponent Leon Edwards: “He’s great”
Former UFC fan favorite Nate Diaz praised his former opponent, UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards, saying that “he’s great.”
Diaz was on the UFC roster for over 15 years before fighting out his contract with a stoppage win over Tony Ferguson last fall at UFC 279. After becoming a free agent, Diaz took to the free-agent market to see what was out there for him, and ultimately, he agreed to move over to boxing. He next steps into the boxing match for his professional debut later this summer when he fights Jake Paul in August.
Ahead of his pro boxing debut, Diaz has been doing the media tour for the Paul fight, and recently there was a news conference for the matchup. One of the questions that Diaz was asked about is how his former UFC rival Edwards is doing inside the Octagon. These two fought back at UFC 263 in June 2021, with Edwards winning a unanimous decision despite being slapped late in the fifth round.
When asked what he thinks about Edwards, who won the welterweight belt last year from Kamaru Usman in an upset and who then defended it once successfully against the former champ, the Brit had nothing but good things to say about the Brit. As far as Diaz goes, he has nothing but respect for Edwards, and he is actually hoping that he hangs onto his belt, which Diaz says that he “deserves.”
“I don’t think I’m over him either, too. He’s great. He’s a great fighter also, and it’d be cool if he hung on to (the UFC title) for a while and he deserves it. Trains hard and works hard,” Diaz said (via MMAjunkie.com).
Are you excited to see Nate Diaz fight Jake Paul in his professional boxing debut, or do you think that he should have stayed in the UFC?
