Nate
Diaz won’t be coaching on a Russian reality show after things
got tense before filming had even begun.
Diaz was in Thailand with Jon Jones for
the show, which is called ALF Reality and is somewhat similar to
“The Ultimate Fighter.” In a video posted on YouTube, Jake Shields,
who was in Thailand to help Diaz, explained the circumstances that
ultimately led to both he and Diaz leaving the show.
At one point, some fighters were coming out to meet the coaches.
One particular fighter was friendly with Jones, but the tone
changed when he encountered Diaz. According to Shields, the fighter
began talking trash to Diaz, which led to him being slapped by the
Stockton, California, native. Shortly thereafter, another member of
Diaz’s team punches the fighter. As others stepped in to intervene,
the fighter begins making threatening gestures.
“Now the guy is trying to spaz out and acting crazy as people
circle him,” Shields said on the video. “I didn’t know this guy was
known for fighting…Had I been smart and watched the show, I’d have
realized this guy is constantly being in fights. There’s videos of
him constantly coming up and choking people from behind.
“No one’s escorting him out. There’s probably about 100 [Chechens]
and Dagestanis there. You can’t see them all in the room because
this mansion is insane.”
According to Shields, the fighter continued to return to the house
after being led out on multiple occasions. At one point, he turns
his attention to attacking what Shields refers to as “one our media
guys,” who had thrown the fighter on the ground moments earlier
during a melee.
“Eventually I got fed up I went after him … I went to mount him. I
was pissed off at that point,” Shields said. “I was trying to make
an example of this guy so fighters would stop testing us. Right
when I started to go off on him, I got blitzed from the side … To
me, it seemed like they were crew working there, not fighters.
Because the fighters were in the chairs.”
With the numbers against them, Shields said it was best to
de-escalate the situation. Eventually, Shields, Diaz and their team
decided to leave the set and go to a hotel. After a few days there,
it was decided that Diaz would no longer be participating in the
show, and the former UFC star flew back home to California.
“Why are we going to go back and film a show — it’s one thing to be
fighting the fighters, that’s why I went out there with Nate, I
thought it was a possibility some of these fighters will try to
test him — but when you have potentially the crew hitting you, too
it’s like no, f—k that,” Shields said.