When former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen saw the video of Nate Diaz getting into a physical altercation with a contestant on Russian’s version of The Ultimate Fighter, “ALF Reality,” it angered the industry insider.
“I just saw a video in Thailand where some guys cornered Nate Diaz, and I’ve got a lot of problems with this video,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel.
Diaz was in Thailand filming an episode of the reality series where he was cast as a coach opposite UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Jones noted that the situation ‘turned serious right away’ when discussing the incident.
“My blood was boiling,” Sonnen said. “First off, to my understanding, Nate is out there working. He is a guest. To my understanding, Nate and Jon Jones are doing a version of The Ultimate Fighter. It’s not The Ultimate Fighter. That’s a specific product owned by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but it’s like that.
“Everything is cool in the gang and some guy comes in, from what I can see in the video, and he’s looking for attention,” Sonnen continued. “He’s also a little bit of a handful. This isn’t some comic. This guy looks like a loose wire.
“It was premeditated. He had people, and Nate was cornered to a degree. I’m just letting you know, if that happens again – you can take this however you want to take this – If that happens again there’s going to be an issue.”
Diaz left the show following the incident but Sonnen was prepared to travel to Thailand to defend the UFC veteran.
Related: Daniel Cormier wasn’t surprised Nate Diaz got into Russia reality show brawl
“I have already spoke to Gilbert Melendez (longtime teammate of Diaz). I will assure you we will be going out there. Interpret that however you want. And I assure you, as we’re going there, we are going to be collecting people. And we know lots of people,” Sonnen said.
“[Alex] Pereira goes to Thailand and trains. Dricus [du Plessis] goes to Thailand and trains. [Israel] Adesanya goes to Thailand and trains. I’m just sharing with you. Our Rolodex is quite vast,” continued Sonnen.
“It looked like a nut. It looked like some jerk that was looking for attention but he was also creating a bit of a dangerous environment,” Sonnen added. “If that happens again, Gilbert and I will be headed to Thailand to find out what that was.”
Before anyone dismisses Sonnen’s comments as hyperbole, he did fight the legendary Wanderlei Silva on the set of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 and squared off with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in a Las Vegas parking garage.
