International Fight Week is typically one of the more civilized and prestigious events hosted by the UFC. An entire week of MMA taking over Las Vegas, featuring meet and greets, grappling tournaments, open workouts – basically anything that the fans want to see goes down at IFW, culminating in some of the biggest Pay-Per-Views in company history, including Jones vs. Santos, Volkanovski vs. Ortega, and McGregor vs. Mendez.
However, among all the bouts going down at UFC 276, including two title fights, it was the violence in the concourse that saw most of the spotlight on social media, when Nate Diaz Stockton slapped Nelk Boys reporter, Shawny Mack – a Stockton slap that was heard around the world. The two ran into each other backstage at UFC 276, with Mack fielding a question to Diaz, who pulled the influencer in close, before knocking away the microphone and Stockton Slapping the Nelk Boys’ hat off his head, telling him to “watch [his] tweets!”
Violence in the Concourse – Nate Diaz Stockton Slaps Nelk Boys
“F*ck that!”
According to Mack, he had made a meme mocking Diaz’s protegee, Nick Maximov, for looking bewildered when Diaz suggested that Maximov fight Khamzat Chimaev in his stead. When pressed on Diaz’s plan to fight the surging Chimaev by TMZ, Diaz responded by saying “Fuck that, fight [Nick]”, before the camera panned to Maximov looking like any sane person would when asked to fight Chimaev.
When asked if he deserved the slap, Mack admitted that he probably did and that even if he didn’t, he’d have said, “F*ck that!” to fighting the Stockton Slugger. Mack elaborated that he had posted a meme with the TikTok sound saying “Oh No, Oh No, Oh No” when the camera panned to Maximov.
“Stockton Motherf*cker! Stockton”
The Stockton slap is an integral part of both Diaz Bros’ arsenals and has been a lifelong habit of the two, inside and outside of the ring. The earliest example of the iconic slap was in Nick Diaz’s dominant victory over Robbie Lawler back at UFC 47. As the two prepared to square off, Diaz could be heard shouting, “Stockton Motherf*cker! Stockton!” across the Octagon at Lawler, before holding his arms wide and utilizing the Stockton slap against his opponent, which only served to enrage the -260 favorite. Diaz would continue to enrage Lawler until finishing the fight in the second round.
Nate has used the humiliating move in countless fights, but especially after his failed Title Challenge against Benson Henderson. Some of the most notable examples include when Nate Diaz slapped Greg Maynard to begin the ending sequence in their trilogy bout. Nate would mimic Nick’s performance against Lawler, as the younger brother would slap Michael Johnson into a blind rage, allowing Diaz to break down Johnson’s typically tight striking into a brawl, and win the decision.
“Imma fight your f*cking ass! You know what’s the real money fight, it’s ME!”
And just like that, history was made. After delivering Michael Johnson one of the most humiliating losses of his career, Nate Diaz cut a promo that would echo around the world, and secure him his bout with the surging Conor McGregor. The first bout between the two would pit the Diaz Army against McGregor’s legions of Irish and Irish-American fans against one another, and yet again, over the course of the 30-odd minutes the two would spend so far in the Octagon, Diaz slapped McGregor over and over again.
Diaz would have a similar performance as his one against Michael Johnson when he returned after more than a year against Anthony Pettis. Unfortunately, the Stockton native would not have the same success against Jorge Masvidal due to a doctor’s stoppage at the end of R3 at UFC 244. However, Diaz slapping Leon Edwards, and following with a huge cross in the final seconds of their bout at UFC 263 would win him a moral victory.
Featured Image Credits to Embed from Getty Images
