"The line rushed towards me"- Charles Oliveira details the time he encountered Nate Diaz following verbal fencing online with Stockton native
Former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira isn’t the kind of person to ignite a feud with fellow fighters. However, it is impossible to escape bitter encounters when you are in the field of martial arts. ‘Do Bronx’ found himself in an awkward situation due to one such bitter episode with Stockton’s own Nate Diaz.
Back in 2022, outspoken megastars Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz targeted Charles Oliveira with verbal attacks in their trademark swagger. The usually quiet Brazilian responded with a tweet where he demanded to fight both men on the same night and promised to finish them off.
Do Bronx was asked to elaborate on the tweet in an interview and his explanation went viral on social media. When he visited Stockton with his team shortly after in 2022, Charles Oliveira’s teammate suggested visiting a store that works closely with the UFC. As soon as 'Do Bronx' visited the store, he accidentally ran into Nate Diaz, leading to an awkward moment. Oliveira said:
“When I got to the mall, I saw this huge line [queue]. I had just become a champion. When I walked in, the line rushed towards me. They abandoned whoever that was and they all came over to me. Who was the guy signing the autographs? Nate Diaz! Things got super awkward. They thought I showed up to steal the spotlight!" [via subtitles]
The video of Oliveira explaining the encounter was posted on combatalk’s Instagram account.
Watch it below:
Charles Oliveira vs Nate Diaz is one of the best fights that never happened in the UFC
Charles Oliveira and Nate Diaz are two of the most exciting fighters that competed under the UFC umbrella. The duo were in the same division for a period of time but the peak of their activity level and stardom came at completely different points in time.
While Oliveira became the UFC lightweight champion by defeating Michael Chandler at UFC 262, Diaz has not competed in the division since defeating Michael Johnson all the way back in December of 2015. ‘Do Bronx’ also brushed aside the Stockton native on one occasion.
Both athletes briefly engaged in a public feud when Diaz claimed his BJJ skills were superior to Oliveira’s but it never escalated to a level where a fight could be booked between them.
Nate Diaz left the UFC after fighting out his contract against Tony Ferguson at UFC 279 PPV event. Meanwhile, Charles Oliveira is gearing up for a title shot against his successor Islam Makhachev at UFC 280. ‘Do Bronx’ lost to Makhachev at UFC 280 in October 2022 and Diaz had not left the opportunity to mock the Brazilian for the loss.