Nate Diaz has withdrawn from a Russian reality show being filmed in Thailand, where he was participating alongside Jon Jones.
The UFC veteran traveled to Thailand to film a competition series similar to The Ultimate Fighter, coaching alongside Jones. However, chaos quickly ensued, leading to Diaz`s departure and return flight to California. His longtime friend and teammate Jake Shields was also present and documented the unfolding events before filming even properly began.
Sources corroborated on Wednesday that Diaz left the show and went home following a massive brawl that erupted between show contestants and individuals from Diaz`s team.
Representatives for Diaz were not available for comment regarding the incident.
In a YouTube video, Shields recounted that the production was chaotic from the start, but the major incident occurred when a fighter confronted Diaz during initial introductions.
Shields` video shows a Russian fighter speaking first to Jones, then approaching Diaz. It appears the fighter attempted to grab Diaz, who promptly shrugged him away.
The situation quickly escalated into a physical exchange between Diaz and the fighter, with Shields stating Diaz “slapped him.” The situation exploded into a full brawl after a member of Diaz’s team punched the fighter.
Shields alleges that instead of removing the Russian fighter, he was allowed back into the room, where another fight broke out. Shields claims he became involved this time, tackling the fighter who originally confronted Diaz.
Shields described being unexpectedly attacked from the side during this second altercation. “Right when I started to go off on him, I got just blitzed from the side,” he stated. He clarified that these attackers seemed to be crew members, not the seated fighters.
“To me it was very clear that it was the staff and the workers,” Shields added, describing it as a moment where he felt compelled to de-escalate.
After the brawls were separated, Shields said the “chaos” persisted, leading Diaz`s entire team to decide to leave the location and withdraw from the show.
According to Shields, the production team eventually attempted to find a way for Diaz and his team to rejoin the show, but by then, everyone involved was set on returning home.
Shields explained their decision: “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*ck that.”
A few days later, Diaz and his full team flew back to California, bringing the reality show experiment in Thailand to an abrupt conclusion.
