Nate Diaz comes to Stephen A. Smith defence amid his verbal feud with Joe Rogan and Conor McGregor.
The outspoken ESPN host was in hot water last week after bashing Donald Cerrone’s performance in the main event of UFC 246.
The MMA veteran was finished by McGregor just 40 seconds into the opening round in what expected as a barnburner welterweight clash.
UFC colour commentator Joe Rogan did not hold back when he responded on Smith’s comments about ‘Cowboy’ in his podcast, saying it was a bad move by the ESPN to put the host in the post-fight panel.
“If you don’t know what you’re talking about and you’re talking about it in front of millions of people, man that’s a bad look for everybody,” Rogan started.
“It’s a bad look for ESPN, it’s a bad look for him, it’s a bad look for the sport. It’s like … there’s other people that can do this.
“There’s a lot of currency in being a Stephen A. Smith, you know? He’s really entertaining. The s***-talking that he does …. he’s a guy that’s fun to watch.”
“He talks a lot of s*** and he gets real loud and everybody disagrees with him. Look, it’s made him a fantastic career. That’s why, and he carries that over to MMA. I think it’s a bad idea.”
Standing Still
Amid the criticisms, Smith remained firm on his comments on Cerrone while stressing he is competitive enough to cover the combat sport.
“I don’t claim to be the aficionado you are or anybody else covering the sport,” Smith said.
“But excuse me? I have been a reporter for 25 years; I have covered sports on a variety of competitive levels regardless of what the sport is. That includes boxing and the UFC.”
“It don’t take much to look at three shoulder shots to the nose that Conor McGregor gave ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, watching him fold inside of 20 seconds, knowing that he only got one strike off, and oh, by the way, that was blocked by Conor.
“‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, in his first pay-per-view match, folded. I respect him, but he folded like a cheap tent. Period. Bad night for him. Bad night. That’s all. And I stand by that. And I’m going to still stand by that.”
Saying The Truth
McGregor has urged Smith to apologize to Cerrone and Rogan, following his comments, but the ESPN host wants him to respect his opinion about ‘Cowboy’s performance.
Now, it is Nate Diaz’s turn to chime in as he believes Smith told the truth and that Rogan and McGregor owe him an apology.
“Rogan and Conor should give Stephen Smith an apology, he said what it was,” Diaz wrote on Twitter.
“The fight was over before it started. Get off each other’s nuts.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor, and Joe Rogan)