Nate Diaz has hit back at fans who claim he shows signs of brain injuries such as CTE ahead of his fight with Jake Paul.
The legendary UFC star left the promotion with a win against Tony Ferguson last year and will make his professional boxing debut against YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul on August 5 in Dallas. However, some fans have worried for Diaz over the years, particularly after he appeared to be slurring his speech during the pair's launch press conference in May.
However, Diaz has clapped back, insisting that he has been talking with a speech impediment for as long as he has been in the public eye. He is known for bleeding profusely during fights, but dismissed concerns about how often he gets punched and the potential for CTE, which stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and is often found in the brains of retired fighters.
"I feel like every fight is pretty f***ed up," Diaz said during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. "Someone's attacking you with their hands and their legs or whatever and I always think I'm always aware that I can be knocked out at any time and that's what make me train harder than most people.
"I think that I'm just conscious of that and that's the reason why I stay conscious the whole time anyway and I don't really be eating punches like how they say because the forearms and elbows and s*** cut me up. But I've been in a boxing gym and it mightn't look like it but I just roll with any of these punches that anybody lands.
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"I'm not just walking in like a meathead into punches. People try to talk about me like that but I've never been knocked out [he was knocked out in 2013 by Josh Thompson], I've never even been stunned stupid or nothing like that and these f***ers will try to talk about how I talk.
"They're saying I've got CTE or some s*** and it's like bro, I've been talking this way the whole motherf***ing time. It ain't got nothing to do with getting hit or none of that and I'm smarter now than ever. I'm not trying to be knocked out so I believe he's got a long night ahead of him, I believe I do as well but I'm not afraid of it and I'm ready to rock and roll."
