Daniel Cormier responds to 'average' Nate Diaz: 'He might need a handler'
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Daniel Cormier wasn't going to sit idly after Nate Diaz's verbal assault on him.
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Diaz (21-13), who returns to MMA on May 16 vs. Mike Perry (14-8) on Netflix, lashed out at Cormier on Theo Von's podcast this week and was critical of his commentary, career earnings, accomplishments and more. The pair have shared negative comments in the past, but Cormier said he never wanted to take it to another level.
That has changed now, because UFC Hall of Famer Cormier has issued a response, starting with a comparison of their careers.
"You lost to 13 people in the sport that you chose. That, to me, is crazy," Cormier said on his YouTube channel. "There are so many people that cannot lose to 13 different people, especially in their athletic prime. Come on, that's crazy. But you want to talk about me, Mr. Champion. I love that I was a champion. I love that I get to do commentary.
"Somebody has got to check him. At this point, he might need a handler, because guess what? There's a chance he goes and gets beat by Mike Perry. I was there when they had to throw the towel in with Josh Thomson. He said, 'You cried.' Nate, maybe you should've cried more, then maybe we would think you cared about winning and losing. Maybe if you cried, Nathan, you wouldn't be so OK with losing. Huh? Because I cried because losing to me was like death. That's why I cried. You don't cry. You go to the afterparty. You go hang out with your friends. You go get beat on a Saturday, and on Monday again you're talking like you're the best in the world."
The previous issue between Cormier and Diaz seemingly stemmed from a podcast Cormier did with Ben Askren where Diaz was labeled as an "average" fighter. Cormier doubled down on that notion, and although he said he wishes Diaz and his family well, and is glad for all the financial success in his career, he points to the record as the ultimate teller.
"You're mad because somebody is talking about how you're average," Cormier said. "Reality is, you're average. You've always been. But you made a lot of money. That's good. But you're average. You can talk all you want now, but you can't change the fact that you can't go back in time. We can't go back in time and make you better than you were. So you keep punching above your head.
"You won 21 fights, and you lost 13. To a guy like me, that seems impossible. Maybe it's not. But to me, it seems impossible. And I will say it to your face."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Daniel Cormier responds to Nate Diaz's outburst: 'You're average'