NATE DIAZ has been called out by Bellator champion AJ McKee to ‘squash the beef’ following their brawl before Jake Paul’s last fight.
The pair were in Florida supporting their training partners Anthony Taylor and Chris Avila, who fought on Paul’s undercard.
And at one of the media days a melee between the opposing teams broke out, with McKee and Diaz involved.
Now, the Bellator king wants to settle the score inside the cage as ‘head honchos’ of their rivalling camps.
He told CBS Sport: “Things just escalated a little quickly. Nate has one fight left. I have however many left. But I don’t really care.
“If we have an issue, at the end of the day, we can let these [fists] do the problem solving for me.
“He comes from that era. I come from watching that era and growing up in that era. We ain’t gotta do all this and all that.
“If we have really issues let’s let these do the handling. So far it’s 1-1 with Chris Avila and Anthony.
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“I think Nate and I need to go ahead and squash the beef as head honchos. Let us get it on and pop it one time and see what it is.
“I know what it is but I think he needs to see what it is and feel what it is so that he can know.
“I don’t care what weight class. 150, 170. I walk around 160, 165 right now. Tell me 170 and see what I come back with.”
Avila, 28, went on to beat Paul’s ex-sparring partner Taylor, 32, over eight rounds in a boxing rematch having initially lost in MMA.
And McKee, 26, opened up on how the altercation with Diaz, 36, first erupted days beforehand.
He revealed: “I don’t know how it all started with Anthony but, at the end of the day, Anthony will not be touched in my presence. Period.
I think Nate and I need to go ahead and squash the beef as head honchos. Let us get it on and pop it one time and see what it is.
AJ McKee
“You know what I mean? If I’m with any of my boys, if somebody has an issue, none of my boys are going to be touched in my presence.
“I mean, if they catch Ant on the street and beat him up, I’m not going to come and find Nate. But while I’m standing there, he won’t be touched.
“I don’t care if it’s Chris Avila, Nate Diaz or anyone else. He’s not going to be touched.
“I have my four-year-old brother with me too, on top of it all. So you know I’m not looking for trouble unless trouble needs to be got.
“In that situation, he tried to sneak around and get to Anthony. My boy Rhys wasn’t having it. He squared up. I saw someone square up with him.
“At that point, I mean, hey, when people are squaring up you know what comes after square up – punches get thrown.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk