Nate Diaz reveals his hardest fight to date ahead of UFC 244

Nate Diaz will be facing Jorge Masvidal for the “BMF” title Saturday at UFC 244, a belt that he practically spoke into existence.

Diaz (20-11 MMA, 15-9 UFC) has long been preaching the idea of getting in there with guys who are willing to scrap and take him out, as opposed to holding on to him for dear life.

Speaking to ESPN on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” Diaz revealed his hardest fight to date was not either of his wars with Conor McGregor, or any of his losses, but his three-round battle with Josh Neer in 2008, in which Diaz scored a split decision win in a “Fight of the Night” effort.

Neer was already on Diaz’s radar since he fought his older brother, Nick, two years prior. In that fight, Nick submitted Neer with a third-round kimura.

“Josh Neer – he’s not in the UFC anymore – I fought him. He was the hardest fight I had,” Diaz said. “He fought my brother two, three rounds, and they were just (expletive) squabbing. That’s another guy in the category, too, and I knew fighting him that he was the man. He fought my bro, he was mad that Nick beat him, so he probably wanted to beat my (expletive) all over the place.”

Diaz and Neer engaged in an all-out battle and exchanged slams, dirty boxing in the clinch, and submission attempts. But Diaz was able to narrowly edge Neer.

“That was the hardest fight because I’m like, ‘This fool’s crazy, and he’s not going to try and hold me,’” Diaz said. “I just tapped out four black belts or something, and in the UFC – like, good black belts. I was a purple belt. I was like, ‘These fools are getting easier and easier.’ I was like, ‘This guy is probably a white belt. He’s not even ranked in jiu-jitsu.’ And back then, I was trying to get a black belt, so I knew. I was like, ‘Man, this guy isn’t even ranked – he’s going to be hard and crazy, but at least he’s probably just a white belt.’ And I fought him and he was the hardest fight I had. Those black belts were easy compared to him.

“And it was a real good fight if you ever look back at that fight. It was a serious fight. We were fighting. I was going for the kill, he was going for the finish.”