Nate Diaz has admitted that he hates doing Ironman races in the ocean and feared he was going to be eaten by a shark whilst taking part in one.
Diaz, 38, is preparing for his professional boxing debut against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul on August 5. The UFC legend is known for his exceptional cardiovascular endurance and he often competes in triathlon and Ironman competitions along with his brother Nick and several of his training partners.
With his boxing match against Paul less than a month away, Diaz still plans to compete in two triathlons before the fight. Thankfully for Diaz, the swimming part of an upcoming triathlon will take place in a lake and not an ocean, which is good because he fears a shark could get him at any moment in the deep waters.
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"Every time we would be on the beach getting ready to go in the morning, my brother would be all pumped up. I'd be like 'Motherf*****, I'm only doing this because of you and now I'm going to get eaten by a shark'. Now that my brother hasn't been competing as much, I haven't been dragged into too many ocean ones," Diaz said on The Pat McAfee Show.
"I've done about six half Ironmans. I did the Big Kahuna half Ironman in Santa Cruz, out there you swim around the pair. The whole team you see and hear a load of s***. I hate ocean swims but all the other racers love it, I don't know if it's because the love the thrill of it. This race next weekend is going to be in a lake so that's good, those are my favourite races."
Diaz is also an avid marijuana smoker and he joked his peformance would be better in long-distance races if he could smoke the drug whilst taking part in them. There were fears that Diaz's fight against Paul would have to be moved to a different state because of the strict marijuana laws in Texas, but Paul's manager has insisted a location change won't be needed.
"If I could smoke during them it would be better, because it makes me deal with it better! My whole career I have smoked weed and if I need to get a lot of s*** done, may as well get high. If you're smoking a bunch of tobacco, nicotine and bull**** chemicals it's bad, but not some natural weed," he added.
