Askren: ‘I find it entertaining’ how ‘delusional’ Nate Diaz is
Ben Askren shares his opinions about Nate Diaz.
Despite a lackluster record and an almost three-year absence from the UFC, Nate Diaz remains to be a hot topic in MMA circles. UFC welterweight Ben Askren, for one, recognizes the attention Diaz draws.
“For what it’s worth, he does a great job making people interested in him. It’s a funny thing because to me he comes off as fairly unintelligent and he says some crazy sh-t,” Askren told MMA Fighting. “Like where he said he’s the king of lightweights. It’s kind of funny. In a little demented way, he believes it even though there’s no way it’s close to actually being true.
“In the same way that a lot of people do, I find it entertaining and in another way it’s like holy sh-t this guy is out of his damn mind.
“He is not a threat in the slightest bit to the welterweight division,” he added. “I think we’re getting down to the point where he’s just delusional.”
Diaz will make his first UFC appearance in 2016, when he faces former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis in a welterweight bout at UFC 241. For this fight, Askren expectedly has his teammate winning.
“When it gets down to it, I know Nate Diaz said he’s not a 155 pounder anymore or whatever bullsh-t he says but at the end of the day, Nate Diaz is 1-3 at 170 [pounds],” Nate Diaz is a terrible 170-pounder and that’s all there is to it. Anthony versus Nate is going to be fun.
“I think Anthony is going to kick Nate’s ass and I don’t know that will really affect me that much.”
UFC 241 takes place on August 18th in Anaheim.