Altercation with Nate Diaz: “You slap like a b****”

Tyler Diamond, current contestant on this season of the Ultimate Fighter (season 27), was reported to have been in an altercation with Nate Diaz, after Diaz allegedly pushed Clay Guida at a Combate Americas event late last night (Friday, May 11th, 2018).

We reached out to Diamond to gather some more information on exactly what happened, and had this to say:

“So I’ve already vaguely explained what happened on Twitter, but to detail: The show was almost over & as I was talking to Clay face to face, Nate & his crew moved in & Nate shoved Clay in the back. I immediately stepped forward & almost thought it was a joke at first but I tried deescalating the situation – getting in the middle & putting my arms out basically saying, “calm down” I then got slapped by Nate & punched by one of his groupies. There was about ten guys surrounding me. As soon as I got popped I put my hands up & shit started hitting the fan. Quickly him & his crew realized there was more than just a couple of us in the area so him & his groupies got outta there as quickly as they could.“

Following the reported incident, Diamond has this to say via: his social media…

You slap like a bitch @NateDiaz209! pic.twitter.com/DUMP0BwBxe

— Tyler Diamond (@TylerD1amond) May 12, 2018

Ultimate Fighter 27: Undefeated

While the show is still airing, the tournament, all besides the final is complete, and for us to sit and wait impatiently for as the episodes release week-to-week. During our sit down with Tyler, he was unable to detail his standings within the tournament (obviously), but he did detail his experience in the TUF house, and what added pressure he had after being picked first for Team (Daniel) Cormier:

My time in the House was pretty awesome. I was there for one thing & one thing only. It was cool having no outside distractions. The producers on set were also very nice & accommodating people. I really appreciate how respectful they treated us & how they were willing to go above & beyond in order to help us contestants out. Overall, it wasn’t that difficult of an experience. There’s a lot of things you can’t control but as long as you concentrated on what you came for, it was easy.

Diamond continued…

Being the first pick was pretty cool. I have to admit I expected to be the first pick because I felt going in I was one of the more seasoned & well-rounded fighters but I knew everyone was very tough. I definitely felt like I had a target on my back after being picked first, but to be honest I felt it as soon as I arrived in Vegas & all the other competitors saw that I was there.

Journey to the UFC, and Problems Along the Way

Tyler Diamond is a promising prospect, accumulating nine victories with no defeats on his way to the Ultimate Fighter, but before he received word on the Undefeated season, Diamond wasn’t quite sure what else he had to do to get his shot:

I’ve accumulated a 9-0 recorded as a pro & was starting to wonder what else I had to do to get my shot in the UFC. Once my manger sent me a memo sent out by the UFC looking for undefeated fighters for TUF I knew it was an opportunity & I had to take it. Along the way I fought for West Coast Fighting Championship, King of the Cage, Tachi Palace Fighting Championship & Global Knockout where I captured the featherweight title in my last bout.

The journey to the UFC isn’t always an easy one, and it’s no different for Diamond, as he struggled with finding people willing to fight him on his come up. After dedicating his life to mixed martial arts and competing, he was faced with many last minute drop outs, detailing it was a “devastating” experience, especially since fighting is what pays his bills:

The biggest thing I had to deal with when I started my MMA career was getting people to fight me. I had a very difficult time & had many guys drop out of fights. Even recently I’ve had a lot of fights where fighters would drop out less than two weeks before & because I have to get paid to live took the fight with whoever they wanted to give me. At that point it doesn’t matter who it is, I just needed to fight. When you invest your whole life into a fight camp having a fight fall through can be devastating. Luckily, every promotion I fought for was able to find game replacements.

Be sure to follow Tyler Diamond on Twitter: @TylerD1amond

For more MMA news, follow Adam LeBarr on Twitter: @thefightersblog